


Trapped In Another World

by KaZe0100



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Male-Female Friendship, Other, Pragmatic protagonist, References to Other Shows/Franchises, Swordfighting, Violence, musician - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2020-09-26 06:03:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20384869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaZe0100/pseuds/KaZe0100
Summary: This story follows a person based off me, yet again. Instead, it's more realistic this time. He isn't any super-human, he's just a normal kid. Still attending school, but that all changes when someone or something sends him to a universe he loves, but no one would ever want to be in.This is probably gonna be my last Nier Story.





	1. First Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> Yup, this character is basically me.  
School started, ugh...  
And spoiler alert, you have been warned!

Kenneth Zhou was just a normal person. He was still attending high school, and was a teenager. Summer vacation was nearly over. In fact, after this night, he would be starting his junior year. He had recently finished a story, his own protagonist based off another character had died, and the story ended with his son. He looked out his window and into the night sky. He looked at his phone, it was ten-thirty, and he would have to go to sleep soon, as he was to wake up at six-o'clock-sharp. His mother had already gone to sleep, as she would be waking up early than he would. His summer was actually quite exciting, considering the fact that he went to many places with his family and friends, he even got enrolled into a small program that taught him some military training.

He prepared his clothes for tomorrow. He would have to look his best, even if it were summer, he would wear his best pants, his favorite short-sleeved dress shirt and a fitness shirt. Over the summer, he had toned his body a bit more. Now, he had a bit more muscle mass on him, and he had lost a bit more weight. And even got more even tan. "Son?" asked a voice behind him.

"Oh, dad." responded Kenneth in Cantonese.

"Go to bed, soon. You have school tomorrow." said his father.

"I know dad, goodnight." Kenneth closed his door. The air conditioner was still on, "Better go to sleep while it's still on." he climbed into bed and closed his eyes. He wondered what he could write next. And it suddenly struck him, he could just use the "Stuck in another world" again. He had promised his readers that he would make at least one more NieR: Automata story, his final one. So he thought as he was drifting off to sleep.

_"Characters..."_ he thought. _"Should I make another original character?"_ he asked himself.

After a few more minutes of thinking, he finally had it down. 

This new story would be very similar to his first story. Except this time, the protagonist wouldn't be some kind of super-human. After all, his character, Lars was a magic wielding, sword swinging, martial arts master, incredibly ripped fourteen-year old badass. But this time, the character would be a normal human. This time, more based off himself. "Yeah, that'll work." he said to himself.

Now, he was finally ready to go to sleep. He told himself that he'd start writing. 

But as he was going to sleep, he could've sworn he heard a voice. 

"... One year..." it whispered.

Kenneth thought nothing of it, after all, he was quite tired and decided that it was just his mind playing tricks on him. So with no other thought on it, he went to sleep.

He opened up his eyes to his alarm. He struggled to move his arm to turn it off. He somehow did it and looked out of the window, even with his grogginess, he saw something very strange. 

_"That's odd... Even if it's summer, six-o'clock can't be this bright."_ he thought to himself. He got up and slowly walked up to the window, he opened his blinds and shut his eyes from the sudden brightness. Then, with his eyes still shut, he opened up the window itself. He noticed something, the air was blowing, but it wasn't even cool. It was the kind of air he would feel during the afternoon. Finally, he opened his eyes to see... _"W-what?"_

The houses across the street were gone, only their ruins were where they once were. He angled his head and saw that some of the structures still stood, but they were either overgrown or broken down. Quickly, he ran to his brother's room, and swung open the door. Everything was still there, from the bed to all the appliances, the computer was left the way it was. The only difference was that there appeared to be some tracks of dirt, they resembled footprints, but Kenneth didn't pay attention to that. Yet, no one was there, and his brother didn't start school until Tuesday, but where was he? 

Next, Kenneth ran to his parents' bedroom. "Mom? Dad?" he asked out loud. Still, no one. He looked out the screen door. It was the same with the houses in front. The grass, which was just cut yesterday, had formed a jungle, the trees had overgrown to massive proportions, and he even saw a glimpse of the city below the hill he lived on. It was completely in ruins, and overgrown.

Panic began to seize his mind. He was in an unfamiliar environment, and everything was on ruins. He didn't even know if there were any humans. His entire family was gone, and he was all alone. Surely he would starve, or die of dehydration. Judging that everything seemed to be destroyed, there'd probably be no running water or electricity, things that he had relied on in the past. He started to freak out in person, "Oh, GOD! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna-" He stopped himself, because he remembered a bit of his training. "No, no, no. Calm down... CALM DOWN..." he told himself. He breathed for several minutes.

"Is this a dream?" he asked himself. He pinched himself really hard, almost drawing blood. "Nope." Suddenly, he remembered something else, that voice. "One year? Is that what it meant?" he asked himself, "Here goes nothing." Kenneth looked at the ceiling, "Hey, whatever you are, is that it? I'm here for one year?" He waited and nothing happened, "Guess I am going cra-"

"Correct..." something whispered. "You must survive..." it said again.

"H-hey! Why send me here? Send me back! I want to go home! Let me see my family! Hey! You listening? Whatever you are, send me right back now!!"

No response.

"Shit... Guess I'm stuck here for a year. Everyone... wait for me. Please." He began speaking Cantonese, "Mom, Dad, Brother, my friends, don't give up on me. I'll be back, I promise." he opened his eyes, "Alright." he said in English, "Food." he walked down the stairs, and opened the windows. He saw that all the plants inside and outside the house were still normal, in fact, his yard hadn't been touched by the years. The table and umbrella outside remained in perfectly good condition. And the gate he painted was still perfect as well.

Kenneth went outside and saw that his own house was in perfect condition, where as the others were completely broken down and ruined. He looked inside the cabinets, it had tons of non-perishable food, even some he didn't have before. He looked inside the freezer, and it was filled to the brim with food, again, some he never had before, and the fridge as well. Kenneth decided he would take a look at the refrigerator in the garage, it was also stocked with food. But the cars were gone, instead, there was a military grade, armored, off-road, vehicle. He looked at his weapons, they were still there. His family owned no fire-arms, all they had were martial art's training weapons. They were made of aluminum and a but of steel, they could cut, only if he went fast enough.

"Damn... That means the only actual weapon I have is my long-sword." Kenneth went back into the house itself, "Water..." he muttered. He went to the faucet. He turned it on, and water came out. It looked clear, he turned on the drinking faucet and filled his mug a bit. After taking a sip, he concluded that it was normal drinking water. He went to the bathroom and turned on the shower, it ran like normal. 

"If this is just a test where I live in solitude, then this is some sick test." he decided to take a shower, as a risky test. He didn't run out of water the entire way. After he came out, all changed, he made himself some food and ate it. "This is all real. I even have electricity..." he looked at the calendar, it was August 19th, he would have to survive until the next year. 

"I have to find civilization." Kenneth went to the garage, he looked at the armored vehicle. He had learned how to drive a bit over the summer, but probably hadn't driven one of these before. He looked inside, there was a ton of room, the controller for the garage was also there, he looked at the stuff near the drivers seat, it looked the same as it did with his mother's car, for some reason. There was much space in the back, it could fit at least nine more people, there was also a computer for maps in the passenger's seat. "Not gonna use you yet." said Kenneth. 

The town was only a small while away. So he would walk. So Kenneth packed some water, some food, and his long-sword. Before he left, he saw that his combat knife looked strange, it had strange green lines on it, like whenever Emiya Shirou used trace on. "It's reinforced?" he asked. 

"Invulnerable..." said the voice yet again.

"Oh, good to know you care..." said Kenneth sarcastically as he placed it in the sheathe and clipped it on his belt.

Finally, he then began his walk. As he was walking around, he couldn't help but notice all the wild-life. He thought about several places where he could be, most of them were related to Earth in the future after an apocalypse or something. For all he knew humanity could've been annihilated years ago, and he's the last one standing. When he got to the town, he saw everything was run down, or overgrown.

He looked around, and saw nothing. "Am I... Really alone...?" he asked. He kept walking until he heard rustling. Kenneth stayed alert and just drew his sword, asking who was there would give away his position. He heard footsteps, metal footsteps, until something came out. It was something that he could recognize immediately. "A machine life-form?" he asked. Suddenly, he knew where he was. The overgrown plants, the ruined buildings, he was now more than ten-thousand years in the future, he was in the world of NieR: Automata. "No... No way... Here of all places?"

"Kill... Kill... Kill..." it said. Red eyes replaced the once yellow circles. It jumped toward Kenneth, and almost killed him. Kenneth knew, he would have one chance to take it out. There was only one of these things, and it was a small one. 

_"I think I can handle one..."_ he thought. He knew it's attack pattern, it would spin it's arms at him. So Kenneth ran toward it, it srung it's arm and Kenneth managed to roll behind it. "Take this!" he shouted. With one swing he almost ended it...

However...

The blade of his sword broke right off.

Fear struck him immediately, his main weapon had just snapped easily. That's right, this was a machine life-form, something made of metal that wasn't even disclosed in the game. A long-sword made of regular steel wouldn't even dent it. Kenneth almost was hit, but he ducked. He had to end this quickly or else other machines would come. He was already having enough trouble taking down one. It kept swinging it's arms, like that was all it could do. "One last chance..." said Kenneth. He drew the reinforced knife, and hoped it really was indestructible. Once again, he evaded an attack and rolled behind it. He drove it into the chest, where the core should be.

The blade slid through the machine like it was butter. It worked, suddenly the machine shut off and fell to the floor, Kenneth still holding the knife. He saw the machine begin to spark, quickly, he jumped away and covered his face as it exploded. It echoed through the town. "I gotta go..." Suddenly, a taller machine came out, and it looked at him. Kenneth knew he was no match for that thing, so he began to run. It chased after him, so he ran faster. But he was starting to run out of breath, and it kept getting closer and closer.

Eventually, the machine was close enough to shove him down onto the ground. He rolled a bit and looked behind himself. He was so close to his home, it was right there, if he had just been a bit faster, he may have had a chance of surviving. But that was over now. He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face. "I'm gonna die..." he said to himself. There was no changing that now, he was going to die in this place, the world of his favorite video game, and he hated it.

He wished he was like Lars, but Lars was a fictional character he created. "Dammit..."

The machine grabbed it's other hand. It was going to smash his head in, but something remarkable happened.

Kenneth opened his eyes to see a white katana enter the machine's head. It's eyes flickered and a white haired girl came in and kneed the machine. She pulled the sword out and slashed it two more times, it was sent flying as it exploded. The girl looked at him, a dirtied face, and eyes that threatened to kill him right there. She was accompanied by a small little floating robot. 

Only one thought entered Kenneth's mind.

"Y-you're... YoRHa A2..." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not everything in this story is true about me.   
However, I am Southern Chinese and have a hairstyle very similar to Bruce Lee's.


	2. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenneth had made contact with someone. He knows her as A2, but how will she react? Will she react violently? Or will she be understandable?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being so late. Being a junior is kind of a pain.

Kenneth looked up at the woman who now stood in front of him. Her features were just as they were in the game, rugged, dirty, eyes piercing his soul, and her distinct lines on her skin. She just stared at him, right after destroying a machine in front of him. "Y-you're... YoRHa A2..." 

She instantly showed anger. She gritted her teeth and asked, "How the hell do you know my name? Who are you?!" she nearly shouted. She pointed her sword at him, that white katana, Kenneth recognized it. Virtuous Contract was the name, and it belonged to 2B. But Kenneth would save that for later, as this girl was pointing it straight at his face, "Well? Don't you know it's rude to not respond?"

"R-right..." breathed Kenneth, "My name is Kenneth... I'm a human..."

A2's face switched from anger to immediate shock, "W-wait... what?" she asked, lowering her sword. Kenneth stood back up, he was actually taller than her. She was only 5'6", even with heels, and Kenneth was 5'8". "T-that's not possible. All the humans are on the moon!"

_"So she hasn't found out yet?__"_ thought Kenneth to himself. "I know it's hard to believe, but I'm from a far off place. Look, Pod-042 can scan me."

"You know this thing's name, too? Just who are you?"

"Well, let's just say that my knowledge on this entire world is very vast, anyway, about that scan?"

A2 gestured her head, "Scanning." chimed the machine. "Scanning complete: This entity is a human. Gender: Male. Race: Chinese. Blood Type: AB-. Age-"

"Okay, that's enough." cut in A2, suddenly the Pod shut up.

"You have short hair." said Kenneth immediately.

"Yeah? What of it?"

"And that sword... if you have it and the pod... 2B is..."

"So you know about that, too..." responded A2, "Yeah, I had to kill her. She was infected by a logic virus, I had to put her down."

"And 9S?"

"Haven't seen him for a while now." Kenneth looked around and finally saw it, he saw the tower in the distance. But quickly took his gaze off of it. "Well, if you don't have any more questions, do you have a place to go?"

"Yes."

"Then let's move, I don't have time to babysit you."

"Hold on, what makes you think I need you to guard me?" asked Kenneth, rather offended.

"Well, you almost got killed by one machine that's not even that strong. And I'm an android, and it's my duty to keep you humans safe, I thought you of all people would know that, wiseguy." A2 retorted.

"Alright fine..." replied Kenneth. He began walking towards his house, until A2 stopped him again. "What is it now?" asked Kenneth, now annoyed.

"You're heading towards that complex, right?" asked A2.

"Yeah? So what?"

"That's my base."

"Huh? What're you talking about? It's also where I live." Kenneth then thought about it. "Is your base one with four rooms upstairs? One bathroom and three rooms with beds?"

"Yes."

"Are they clean?"

"Yes, clean enough."

"Oh my God, you were living in my house before I even arrived."

"You are hardly making any sense right now." she said, now also annoyed.

"Just follow me."

"Ugh. Fine." 

They walked quickly to the house. Lars entered in the code for the garage and the door opened. A2 walked in along with him, and then saw him do the strangest thing. He was taking off his shoes and socks before he was entering the house. Kenneth looked up at her, as if he was expecting her to do the same. Not wanting to get into another annoying argument, A2 took off her heels, but that didn't change the fact that her feet were completely filthy. She entered the house with Kenneth and looked around. "This is definitely my base." said A2.

"Okay, let me explain. I woke up here today, and I have to stay here for a year. I know it sounds weird, but you're gonna have to take my word for it. Anyway, so when did you find this place?"

"I found it about a week ago. It's the most intact building in this place, so I picked it. It also had the armored vehicle when I came to this place. There were beds and bathrooms, all of them are clean. It made me wonder if this is what the typical human home looked like. So you live here? And you woke up in this place?"

"Yeah, both in this world, and in my own world. This is my house. I'm supposed to live with my mom, dad, and brother." responded Kenneth.

"So what? Should I move out?"

"That's what I wanted to bring up." Kenneth looked at her, he knew that prolonged solitude would drive him mad, and he knew of her possible fate. She would either go down with the Tower, or she would be killed by 9S, wherever he was. Kenneth wanted to have some company while he still could. "You may live here, as long as you follow my rules." 

"I don't like rules." said A2 bluntly, she turned to leave, but Kenneth grabbed her by the arm, a bit forcefully, "Get your hand off me before I-"

"Just hear me out." said Kenneth, letting go now. She didn't look like she was going to comply, so Kenneth was forced to say, "As I a member of the glorious human race, I command you to stay!" she finally stopped, and glared at him.

"Fine... what do you want?" she asked.

"Just make sure you take off your shoes before entering the house, don't dirty up the house too much, keep your room clean, and make sure you shower. It's that simple." said Kenneth.

"Androids don't need to shower, plus, do you even have running water?"

Kenneth said nothing, he just went over to the sink, turned on the faucet, filled up a mug, and drank out of it. "That answer your question?" 

"How much of it do you have?" asked A2.

"It's unlimited." said Kenneth bluntly. "Whatever sent me here clearly wanted me to survive. I even have electricity." Kenneth flicked a light switch, and surely enough, a light turned on. "This is also unlimited, right?" asked Kenneth into the air. A2 looked confused when she also could've sworn she had heard a voice say, "correct". "You hear that too right?" asked Kenneth.

"Yeah... What was that?" asked she.

"Whatever sent me here. I don't even get a proper explanation. For all I know, I'm just here because I am. There's no motive, no purpose, I'm just here."

"That's a pretty shitty explanation." was the only thing A2 said back, "But I'll take it. So, you want me to shower?"

"Yeah, and follow the other things I said, will you do it?"

"Fine. Whoever sleeps in the room I slept in has a really good bed."

"Oh, so you like it?" teased Lars.

"Sh-shut up!" immediately responded A2. She then calmed down, "So, can... can I sleep there?" she asked, looking away. Her bangs covered up her face, so Kenneth couldn't see her face, but he was sure she was blushing.

"I thought androids didn't need sleep." said Kenneth.

"It's a luxury. I just like it, alright?"

"Sure, you can sleep there, just follow the rules."

"Sure, whatever." 

"Alrighty then, welcome to the Zhou household, A2." 

"Zhou household? What's a Zhou?"

"Oh, it's my last name."

"You have two names?" asked A2, now confused.

"Sorta, well, my full name is Kenneth Zhou, people have a first name and a last name. The first name symbolizes their own person. The last name represents their heritage and race. I'm Southern Chinese. Get it?"

"Kind of."

Kenneth suddenly thought of something that he always wanted to see in person. "Oh! Can you show me the Kaio-Ken sometime?"

"Kaio what?" asked A2. 

"It's what I always call your b-mode. Y'know, if you knew what I was talking about, then it would make sense. But i'll explain it anyway. Kaio-Ken is a technique from a show I watch, it's called Dragon-Ball, anyway, it's a technique that is a small burst of energy that enhances the user's strength, speed, reflexes, and practically every attribute they have. Though it kinda hurts to use it, it wears out the body slowly over time, just like your b-mode. Use of it excessively is harmful. Am I wrong?"

"You really do know so much." was all A2 said. "But, sorry, no. It's for emergencies only. And please stop calling it that, it's just b-mode. I gotta get going, this place was just on the way to get to Pascal's place, I have to do a delivery. You know who _that_ is?"

"Nature loving machine with a village?" asked Kenneth.

"That one, I'm bringing him some stuff. I'll be gone a while, so don't go causing any trouble, least not until you have a better weapon."

"Aw, phooey." said Kenneth, "Oh, well. See ya."

Suddenly, A2 got a call. They both looked at the holographic screen that Pod-042 was projecting. "Ah A2! Can you hear me!?" Kenneth knew it was Pascal calling, he knew where this was going, "Please, if you can, come quickly! The villagers are- Oh, no...!" Kenneth knew something had driven the villagers mad, it wasn't any character he had written either. But Kenneth thought if he was here, then the story was already deviating just a bit, maybe A2 could save Pascal and the children. 

"Pascal! Pascal! Can are you there?" asked A2, "What the hell is going on?"

"You have to go now!" Kenneth looked, smoke was coming out of a place he saw that wasn't too far. "That must be the village..." he turned back to A2, "You can still save them, go! Please, A2, you've gotta!"

"Yeah, I'm going!" shouted A2 back, she quickly slipped her heels on and then ran out of the garage, until she was out of sight.

All Kenneth could do was hope that she would be alright. After all, he thought of it himself, a human in NieR: Automata, the story was already beginning to twist. It would just twist in a way that he wouldn't expect it to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the ending's kinda dark, but hey.  
I almost accidentally typed Lars by habit every time I tried to type Kenneth.


	3. Deviation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A2 returns, but has she saved Pascal and the children? Thou shalt have to read this chapter to findeth out. Other than that, it would appear that Kenneth's existence is truly bending how the story goes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again, I know.  
Well, Happy Spooky Season!  
Shorter chapter

A2 left to go and attempt to save Pascal's village. Kenneth knew that the story of the game was beginning to deviate. He knew that this would go a few ways, either A2 actually managed to save them, saved a few, or not be able to save all of them. The possibilities might as well been infinite, but all he could do was hope. Hope that A2 could save them, because he thought of their fate in the game as a little sad. 

In his current state, he knew he couldn't do anything. He knew that he couldn't fight the machines with just a combat knife, he was powerless. Kenneth despised that fact, him being who he was, he was rather arrogant, he hated this fact so much, he almost blew a blood vessel. But it's a fact that he accepted anyways. So all he could do is wait.

For six hours, Kenneth had waited.

Six long hours that felt like an eternity was a better description.

In those six hours, Kenneth had done many things to try and ease his stress. He first took a shower and made himself cleaner, he also patched up any scrapes and bruises he may have had from his encounter from that machine. Kenneth also scouted around outside, he looked around, armed with his little knife. It was also in that time that he finally made a few rules for himself. He could take down one machine, if anymore were to appear, run. The second was to never venture too far without A2. The third and final was to never underestimate any opponent he comes across. 

Kenneth looked outside, the sun still high in the sky. He checked his phone, the time was exactly twelve-o'clock. That's when he finally heard footsteps. Kenneth readied his knife, and readied a stance. There were many pairs of footsteps, Kenneth readied himself for the worst. He stood there, frozen in fear, but he saw a bit of white pop up from the hillside. 

"A2?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's me. I bought a few machines with me. This was all I could save." she responded, Kenneth looked behind her and saw the machine children along with Pascal, they were all safe. 

"The children!" exclaimed Kenneth. "They're safe!" then he paused his excitement. 

_"If they're alive, that means the story really is deviating."_ thought Kenneth to himself. "Pascal." he said.

"Oh, A2. Is this the person you were talking about? Is he another android?" asked the male machine.

"Nope, I'm a flesh and blood being. I am a human, and I'm a friend." responded Kenneth.

"A human?" asked Pascal. "Oh this is wonderful! I finally get to meet one!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Pascal."

"I see you already know my name. How would that be?"

"My knowledge of this world is very vast. More than you could ever know, anyway. Come, come, bring the children, come inside the house. I need to explain everything."

*An Hour Later*

"Hmm... I see, so you're from a parallel dimension, and you're just here? Like, there's no other reasoning to it?" asked Pascal, all the while the children were bewildered with Kenneth's home. They were looking at everything, or they were just bothering A2.

"I'm afraid that's the best explanation I have for you." responded Kenneth, "I myself am not very sure."

"I see. Well, we best get going now. I know that you do not want this place to be compromised. Don't worry, we stay at the fail safe place."

"Well, best of luck to you then, come visit me sometime, yeah? A2 is a very busy person."

"Oh, I intend to, I have so many more questions to ask." said he. 

"Well, then, I'll be looking forward to it." responded Kenneth. Then he thought of something, "Wait, doesn't the network know you'd be at the factory? That's why they attacked it, wasn't it?" 

"Oh, do not worry. I didn't mean the factory, I have another place."

"Well, alright then. Have a safe trip." 

"I'll go guard them." said A2, following them. "Should be back in an hour, sit tight until then. Remember, _don't_ go out too far, got it?" she asked sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, go on ahead." 

A2 left with Pascal and the children, Kenneth had some comfort knowing that he would not be alone. So he watched as they all walked away from the safe area. 

*Transition*

"So, is he your friend?" asked Pascal to A2 as they walked behind the children.

"I wouldn't exactly call him that. I just met him today. But he's human, and I'm an android, so I _have_ to protect him." responded A2.

"Why not just send him to the Resistance base?"

"Well, he seems to have everything he needs right where he is. Plus, he's got..." she stopped, "He's got..."

"You can say it. I promise I will not tell."

"He has a comfy bed in that place... I... I kinda like it..." A2 admitted, rather embarrassed.

Pascal chuckled quite a bit, "I see, I see. Oh, look, we're here." They arrived in another forested area, a large building that had been obviously repaired stood in a small clearing, "Would you like to come in?" asked the machine.

"No, it's fine, I have to go back to him."

"Oh, that's fine, but wait a moment, would you? I have a gift for him." A2 did just that, she waited, until Pascal came out with a rather long sword, it was almost as tall as her. The blade was glossy black and with engravings in the middle, the hilt was quite long, cementing that it should be held with two hands, it had a guard on one side, and a wing ornament on the pommel. "I found this on an expedition once. I believe it's an ancient sword, after all, I found it on a battlefield full of things from the medieval era. When I found it, it was on the verge of breaking apart, so I had my friends upgrade it over and over again. It's now as strong as your swords, and you said he needs a decent weapon didn't you? I have no need for it, and I believe this should suffice, so go on. Go on and take it."

A2 held the sword in her hands. It was beautiful, the craftsmanship was amazing. "Thank you." said A2, "Stay safe now." she said before walking off. She walked through the forest and looked at the sword, she really couldn't help but feel kind of weird, this sword, it really was ancient. But it almost didn't seem like it was for combat, it seemed more like just a decoration. "Guess that's what happens when a weapon is too decorated." she sighed. 

"Query: Does Unit A2 not wish to involve the human?" asked Pod-042.

"Kind of. He's just a human, he can take down one machine, but where there's one, there's going to be more. I just don't want him to get hurt."

"Is this Unit A2's programming?" asked the Pod.

A2 didn't respond, she just glared at the Pod. But she knew, it wasn't just her programming. She just didn't want him to get hurt, or she'd feel like she'd be letting down some old friends.

*Later*

A2 finally made it back to the property. "I'm back." she called. 

Kenneth came out and smiled, "Welcome, home." he said.

"Yeah, sure." said A2, she almost walked in, but she stopped herself, she then took her shoes off first. "Pascal has a gift for you." she said.

"Oh? What might that be?"

"Here." said A2 bluntly, she handed the sword, rather hesitantly, but forced herself it give it to him.

"Is this...? Holy crap, this is the Sword of the Father from Final Fantasy?" he asked.

"I have no idea what you just said."

"Oh, the real _real_ question is where Pascal got this."

"He found it on an ancient battlefield."

"I see. Well, anyhow, thanks. Now I've got a real weapon. It won't break, won't it?" asked Kenneth.

"No, it's as strong as my sword."

"Great."

"But one rule if I'm gonna let you keep it." 

"Sure."

"Do _not_ go out and recklessly picking fights, I'll be with you most of the time you go out of the safe zone, so don't cause any trouble fore you and me just because you might think you're invincible. That weapon is for your self-defense. Got it?"

"One-hundred percent."

"Good. I'm going to rest, today was a long day." said A2 as she went upstairs.

"Make sure you shower first! Use the upstairs bathroom." called Lars.

"Right..." responded A2, remembering the rules. 

The rest of the day went smoothly. After a long while, Kenneth looked at the time, and saw that it was already ten. He felt quite tired, so he decided to eat, wash up, and then head to bed. The sun was still high in the sky, so he could just close the windows and make it as dark as he could. 

With that, he went to bed.

*The Next Morning*

A2 was waking him up. "A2?"

"I have to head out. Pod just got a scan on 9S' location. Seems like he's fighting his way through some kind of compound."

"Keeping your promise to 2B? I'll come with." said Kenneth.

"No, you are staying here. I don't have time to argue." said A2 as she dashed off.

Kenneth used his memory to remember what would happen now. He remembered the boss fight sequence. Next, A2 would be protecting 9S from an infected 21O. He just wondered if this would also deviate, or stay the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, Kenneth's main weapon will be the Sword of the Father.  
I promise the next chapter will be longer.


	4. A New Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A2 rushes to go where she had picked up 9S' signal. Of course, she knew she had to keep the promise she had made to 2B. Even if 9S hated her, she would still keep that promise. But she could never know what he would do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot how the passage goes, but I'll do my best to remember it.

A2 rushed to get to the signal, that was now getting stronger and stronger with every step she took. "Pod! How much closer?" asked A2.

"We are about three kilo-meters away. Estimated time of arrival: ten minutes at current speed." responded the small floating machine. 

"Then I gotta pick up the pace..." A2 began running faster, if not at her full speed. As every minute passed, she got closer and closer to her destination, eventually, she made it. The large structure in front of her "I'm here..." she quickly saw the entrance and several destroyed machines. "This the structural unit you were talking about?" she asked.

"Correct." chimed her pod, "This is where 9S signal is coming from. Alert: Unit 9S is currently engaged in combat. Proposal: Unit A2 should assist."

"Yeah, I know." she began to run inside. There were already a trail of more destroyed machine parts, undoubtedly, left by 9S. A few were still alive, they took one look at A2 and they began lunging towards her. A2 drew the sword that 2B had passed down and began to make short work of them. As one machine tried to punch her, she easily blocked it and kicked it aside. The next machine swung at her with a sword, A2 parried and decapitated it. She turned her attention to the next. It ran forward and all A2 did was kick it into a crowd of other machines. She threw a 4O lance, destroying the rest of them.

"Area clear." said the Pod. 

A2 didn't respond and kept moving. She ran through the structure, killing any and all machines that she encountered. As she ran through the structure, she began to notice something. A2 was hearing sounds of fighting, someone or something was engaged in combat. As A2 listened in closely, she began to recognize it. It was the sound of blades clashing together, and cannons being fired. "That sound..." she muttered, "Hey, Pod, can you scan that noise?" she asked.

"Affirmative, that sound is the sound of YoRHa made blades clashing against one another. Proposal: It is 9S engaged in combat with unknown enemy. Secondary proposal: Unit A2 should hurry to assist."

"You make it sound _so_ easy."

A2 kept running through the place, until finally, she saw the fighting. 

It really was 9S, and he was fighting a corrupted YoRHa android. She wore heavy armor and a veil, that probably meant she was probably an operator before hand. They were talking about something, A2 couldn't make it out, but 9S was saying how he would end her pain, and that she was so lonely. A2 quietly crept up on behind them. She watched the fight, 9S hacked the android a bit, but he was sent out not too long after he tried.

Slash for slash was exchanged. Not one attack was unaccounted for. A2 just watched, she would intervene only if 9S needed it. Finally, 9S sent a very powerful shock wave at the android, sending her right off her feet and rolling back. It seemed the fight was finished, 9S, panting, sat down. As he caught his breath, the android began to twitch, she also began to grunt. As she was getting back up, 9S looked horrified. 

Finally, she stood up and threw her arms into the air, and began to advance towards 9S, with the intent to kill him. That's when A2 finally intervened. 

In 9S' point of view, as his life was about to come to an end, a sword suddenly ripped it's way though 21O's chest. Blood dripping onto 9S' sleeve, she was pulled along with the sword being pulled out. She was put behind A2, whom proceeded to stab 21O to death.

Once...

Twice...

And the third, final time...

Just like that, 21O's black box went offline.

A2 was done here, she had saved 9S and now was going to take her leave. As she was walking past 9S, he said one thing. "A2!", it was a whispering shout.

A2 stopped and looked over her shoulder. "2B told me..." she paused momentarily, "She told me she wanted you to... become a good person." 

9S began to slowly stand up. "You..." he growled. "Don't you dare talk to me about 2B!" he nearly screamed. He swung his sword down on A2, but she blocked it. They struggled there for a few seconds, A2 held back, to ensure that 9S would not be hurt by her. But the ground began to shake, and the floor underneath 9S collapsed, causing him to fall in.

*Grandma Destruction (Vocals)*

A machine came in from the sky. It appeared to be the medium sized variant of the machine. Except the fact that it had machine heads as it's arms and was connected together via some kind of red energy. As it began running towards her, A2 began dodging, "Where'd he go?" asked A2.

"Analysis: YoRHa unit 9S is still alive. Query: Why would unit A2 be concerned over the status of unit 9S after turning on YoRHa?" asked the pod after his response.

"Shut up!" replied an angry A2. The machine heads detached and began bouncing around. A2 noticed that they were covered in red energy and one hit her, she took quite the amount of damage. She saw another one and dodged it, and another came at her. This time, she hit it back. But her counter had no effect. The "arms" reattached and it tried to crush her. A2 easily evaded and saw that it was open, so she began to slash away at the machine. But as she slashed, it began to speak. 

"Big... Brother..." were the words, but it was not the machine itself talking. But instead, it was another machine. It was a small one, and it had a bucket on it's head. Another one, dropped down, saying the same thing. And another, and another. A2 had to divide her attention to five opponents, but it was only a minor hindrance to her. A2 slashed one of the machines once, and it was destroyed instantly. 

"My brothers..." said the medium-sized machine, "Don't hurt my brothers!" it shouted.

"A2 was silent for a moment, but she spoke up. "How many androids do you think you've killed...?" she asked, "You think begging for your lives will help? You think that's going to make me forget everything!?" she shouted. She kept slashing away at the large machine, out of rage, she let her guard down. One machine managed to land a good blow on her. The blow sent her back. As A2 saw the machine advancing she saw something.

"A2!" someone shouted. Suddenly, a young man came down from the sky, slashing the machine. The machine's "arms" exploded and it fell to the ground. A2 saw that it was Kenneth who finished the machine. He had used the sword he just got, "Holy crap, it worked..." he said.

*Fade*

"You idiot!" shouted A2. "There are still machines here! What if they-" she stopped and looked ahead, Kenneth also looked over to see the remaining machines with buckets on their heads. They all crowded around their "brother". They all kept saying "Big Brother" a few went in front of the machine and got onto their equivalent of knees. They pleaded A2 to not kill their big brother. She looked at Kenneth. He just looked back.

"You do what you gotta." responded he.

A2 said nothing back but began walking past the pleading machines. With one swing, she destroyed what was left of the "Big Brother" along with the other machines. She then turned to Kenneth and walked to him. The first thing she did was slap him, not with all she had. "What. Are _you_. Doing. Here?" she asked.

"After you left, I thought you might need some help, so I drove here. I knew what was going to happen. This would be the next time 9S ever saw you, so I figured you would be at the God Box, so I drove to the amusement park. I didn't go through the sewers, I just crashed through the barriers." responded Kenneth, "I'm sorry... I know what I did was reckless and put myself in danger, but you were in danger, too."

"Save it. That's not the case. I can handle myself, listen, what you did... I don't want you to do it again, you'll just get in my way."

Kenneth didn't say anything else. He knew what he did was reckless, and A2 was programmed to keep him safe, so he decided that he wouldn't do that again. "Alright. I promise. Let's go home." A2 didn't say anything she just followed him. Both she and Kenneth walked out of the structure, and she saw Kenneth's armored vehicle. They got in, A2 sitting in the back. It was a silent drive, A2 said nothing, and Kenneth began to remember. 

If the fight were true to the game, then he knew that A2 had heard and said some rather heavy things. Not to mention, he put some more worry on her by stepping in. So he thought it would be best if he just stayed silent. And before he knew it, they were home. A2 got out of the car and went to go shower immediately. She still said nothing, and just sat outside on the lawn chairs for a while. It seemed that she was deep in thought. So Kenneth still wasn't going to bother her. 

A2 spent what seemed like majority of the day thinking to herself. She didn't call out for Kenneth, she didn't get up from the chair, she just sat there. So, without anyone to talk to, Kenneth began writing in his journal. He wrote what had happened in the past two days, and that he hoped he and A2 could at least get along, even just a little. After he was done, he tried something that he hadn't tried before. He turned on his television and tried to watch the news. But, it didn't work, he was receiving no signals at all. He had already tried texting some of his friends, but the messages just didn't send. It was as if he had no connection, but his other apps worked just fine, he could play Fate Grand Order with no problem, he could even watch YouTube and Netflix, yet, he could not message anyone.

The next thing he tried was his PS4. It turned on like normal, and he tried to message his cousin. But again, it didn't work. He tried a game, but could not play online. It was then he finally got the base of it. 

"So I can have my electronics, but anytime I try to message anyone, it doesn't work." he said to himself. He tried to the rest of the online things, but he could not. He could go on the store, and do things there, but every time he tried to message anyone, it didn't work. So he turned off the console and was going to go downstairs, but A2 appeared in the doorway. 

"Hey." she said.

"O-oh, hey..." responded Kenneth. He wondered what she wanted, she hadn't spoken in the past several hours. "What's up...?"

"I wanted to apologize." she took a breath, "About hitting you earlier, you helped me, and that was uncalled for. I'm sorry..." she said.

"Oh, no worries. I accepted I was being foolish." Kenneth said, in effort to make her feel less bad.

"I know, you _were_ being an idiot." she was _not_ good at this, "But you were making a kind gesture, hitting you wasn't a good thing to do. I'm sorry." 

"Alright then, I accept." And that was it, A2 looked like she had a huge weight off her chest. Kenneth looked at the clock, it was already ten P.M. "I'm gonna rest now." said Kenneth.

"I'm going to go visit Pascal, don't make any trouble, got it?" asked A2, this time, less stern and more just saying it like his guardian would. 

"Yeah, okay, when you come back, I'll likely be asleep. See ya."

"Later." said A2. 

After she left, Kenneth ate, washed, and then went to bed, the day was over, and he was glad for that.

*The Next Day*

Kenneth awoke to see that A2 was outside. She seemed like she was keeping watch. When she saw Kenneth at the window, she just waved and kept watching the border. Kenneth washed up and ate. He decided that he would stay at home today. As he was doing some housework, A2 came back in. They talked a while and when they were upstairs in his brother's/A2's room, A2 saw something that caught her eye.

"Is that a guitar?" asked she.

"Oh, so you know it?" responded Kenneth as he looked at it and back at her.

"Yeah, a few of my comrades used to know how to play."

"Your comrades, huh? I can play, too. Would you like me to?"

"Sure."said A2.

Kenneth walked over to the guitar and picked it up to play it. A2 sat on the bed and was going to listen. So Kenneth began to play.

*four divertimentos op 'no°1 andantino grazioso*

As Kenneth began to play, A2 realized that she recognized this tune, and she remembered when she first heard it.

*Flashback*

"Hey, a guitar! I think I know a tune." said an android who sat in front of A2 around a fire.

"Do you really, Dhalia?" asked another.

"Well, if you do, may I hear it?" asked A2. She was a younger android back then, in fact, she looked more or less like 2B.

"Yeah, sure. Lemme just..." she started to tune it, she strummed it a bit. "No that's not right..." she tuned it a bit more, and she strummed it again. "There we go!" she put herself in position, and the other androids got in position. As Dhalia began to to play, thy listened, it was a wonderful tune, nice and peaceful. As they listened, an android leaned over to A2.

"What is it, Rose?" asked she.

"How about this. When this is all over, I'll name all of you. It'll be much better than just calling you 'A2'." said Rose.

"But, it's against regulations, I mean, I don't think Command will allow us to have names." responded A2.

"Don't worry about it, they won't know. Whaddya say?"

A2 relented, "Alright then. I'll look forward to it..."

But that never happened."

*Back to Real Time*

Kenneth was still playing it. A2 began to tear up, she noticed that Kenneth was still playing, and his eyes were closed, so she quickly wiped her tears. She wanted him to keep going, but a bigger part of her wanted him to stop. These memories that were going through her head right now were too much, she felt an overwhelming sadness in her non-existent heart.

"Stop..." she muttered. Kenneth did not hear her, he just kept on playing.

"Kenneth..." it was the first time she said his name, "Kenneth... Stop..." she said a bit louder.

Still he didn't hear her.

"KENNETH, STOP!" she shouted. 

*Cut-Off*

Finally, Kenneth stopped, and he was confused. "W-what's wrong?' he asked. "Are you mad?"

"I'm not..." she said, on the verge of tears. She had promised that she wouldn't let anyone see her cry again. She needed to think of something quick. "...It's just... just... get out..."

"A2?" asked Kenneth, he sounded confused, and a bit hurt.

"Just go... I swear... I'm not mad at you... I just need some time alone right now..." she said.

"Alright then..." responded Kenneth. He began to walk out of A2's room, and he closed the door behind him. He listened in, he heard sobs. A2 was crying? He listened in some more to confirm it. And it was true...

He heard A2 crying, she was doing her best to keep it in, but he heard her quietly scream, as if she was forcing it inside of her, not letting it out fully. Kenneth began to cry. He didn't know what she was crying about, but he hated it when his friends cried, it hurt him as well. So he sat there at the door, crying silently, as A2 did on the other side.

*Hours Later*

A2 finally came out of the room. She had fallen asleep in there, A2 had quite literally cried herself to sleep. "Kenneth?" she called. She looked around. A2 walked out of the room and saw that his room was closed. A2 slowly opened the door and looked through it. There she saw Kenneth sleeping, "Guess I shouldn't wake him." She looked around, and found some paper. She grabbed a pen from his room, and then she saw the closet door opening. 

It was the pod, A2 quickly put her finger over her mouth to tell it to be quiet. "Entering silent mode." said Pod-042. "Query: What is unit A2 doing?" 

"Just having some time alone." whispered A2.

"Understood." the Pod began to follow her.

"What does 'alone' mean to you?" she asked.

"This unit cannot leave A2 alone. It goes against the orders of Unit 2B." 

"Stay here... I need you to protect the him."

"Alert: If Unit 9S should encounter A2, she would have no defense against hacking."

"Don't worry, I won't fight him. This place is really well hidden. This is a direct order, guard Kenneth."

The Pod just stared blankly at her. "Affirmative. Stay safe, Unit A2.

"Whatever..."

A2 walked outside.

But someone stood there.

Someone she had hoped would never be here.

"I found you..." he growled.

"9S?"

"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all ready for a whole chapter of fighting next?  
Yep, 9S is basically the antagonist for this story.  
This took a lot longer than I wanted it to.


	5. Duel to the Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 9S has arrived at a place that is supposed to be safe. A battle will be sure to commence, but who will be victorious?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late again. Sorry people.

"I found you..." growled 9S. A2's body ran completely cold, she didn't know what to do. If she engaged now, the battle would be fierce, and Kenneth could very well get caught up in it and be killed. She would also be at a disadvantage, as 9S could hack her, and she told her Pod to stay with Kenneth.

"9S..."

"Yeah it's me. I swore to myself that I would kill you, looks like that day is here... Do you honestly think that I'd forgive you after what you did to 2B?!" he shouted.

"You clearly don't get it. She was infected with the virus, I-"

"I could've saved her!!!"

"No, you couldn't have!! She asked me to do it!"

"Shut up... Shut up! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!" screamed 9S. He threw his sword with all of his might. A2 dodged it, but she saw the sword behind her, it lingered, then went spinning back at her. A2 evaded, this time, materializing her own sword.

"Dammit, I don't want to fight! Not here!"

"Too bad! 2B didn't want to die, either!" retorted 9S. This time, his Pod fired a bomb in front of A2, sending her back. She couldn't go all out, if she did, the chaos might destroy the place Kenneth was in. A2 dashed forward and attempted to slash 9S, but he activated a field last second, the blade easily bounced off and A2 had to go on the defense again.

"That's not what I-"

"STOP TALKING!" screamed 9S. He fired a flurry of bullets at A2. She began to block them, or else if she dodged, the bullets could hit the house. A2 tried to run, but her leg ran past something, and that thing was a wire. An explosion went off in front of her.

"A trap?" she asked with a strained tone. As she landed, 9S came up and got a good slash on her. A2 swung at him to at least get him away. Things were getting bad, he had damaged her quite a bit, and had the upper hand in this fight. She had to come up with something quick, as she tried to jump, she was suddenly hit by a pulse of light.

"I got you!" shouted 9S. His arm extended, his other arm holding onto it. Before she knew it, A2 couldn't move. "There go your cognitive functions..." growled 9S. As she lay sprawled out on the floor, 9S closed in on her. "I'm going to make sure... You die an excruciating death..." He stabbed A2's hand, making her scream in the process as he dug it deeper and twisted it around. He then pulled it out, and raised it above A2's head. A2 saw and closed her eyes, "THIS IS FOR 2B!!" screamed 9S.

"Alert: Incoming projectile." said Pod-153 suddenly.

"What?" asked 9S before getting hit by a blunt object straight in the face. It hit him hard enough to make him bleed a little. He and A2 looked over at where the projectile came from. There stood, Kenneth, along with Pod-042. 

Kenneth loaded in a sizable rock into the back of the pod. "Once he's far enough, fire a bomb." said Kenneth.

"Understood." The pod launched the rock again. 9S took a step back. "Repelling with bullets." Pod-042 then began to fire a stream of bullets at 9S, forcing him to evade and leave the area around A2. "Firing bomb." he fired the bomb straight at 9S. As it exploded, Kenneth quickly ran over to A2, he had his sword with him.

"Are you alright?" asked Kenneth.

"The hell are you doing? Get out of here! If you think you can actually fight him, you're insane!" she shouted at Kenneth.

"I won't leave you! I'm not gonna let my friend just die! Not when I can help them!"

Friend... Kenneth called her a friend. They've only known each other for a few days, and yet, he believes her as a friend. "You... You have to go..." she began to cry, "I've already let too many people I care about die. I can't lose you, too..." she couldn't believe she said that, "Just go... You have to live..."

"No..." responded Kenneth firmly. He drew the sword he had, The Sword of the Father. "Pod. Can you assist me and get the hacking out of A2 at the same time?" he asked.

"Affirmative. Though you lack the authority to issue orders, this unit will assist in order to help A2. The process will be drastically slowed. Estimated time: Ten minutes." 

"Good enough for me." 

"Who the hell are you!" barked 9S.

"The name's Kenneth Zhou... a member of the Glorious Human Race!" proclaimed Kenneth as he placed two hands onto his sword and readied his stance. With the sword training he had, he sincerely believed he could at least hold off 9S.

*Run (Ross Bugden) Extended*

"A human?" asked 9S. He stared blankly, but started laughing not long afterwards. "Heh, You shouldn't exist anymore... You're supposed to be extinct... So let's fix that!" 9S charged.

_"I just gotta hold him off...!"_ thought Kenneth to himself. He parried a swing from 9S, he swing his own sword, 9S blocking it, but being lifted off his feet. _"I'm slightly stronger?"_ Kenneth remembered he was a scanner, and that combat wasn't really his forte. But 9S quickly recomposed himself and threw his sword at Kenneth as hard as he could. Granted, he blocked the blade, but it sent him off his feet. 

"9S! Leave him alone!" shouted A2 whilst on the floor, "Your score is with me! Leave him out of this!" 

"I'll deal with you in a moment!" 9S rushed at Kenneth, and they clashed. Kenneth held his ground, not letting 9S get another inch. Their swords were locked, and with one swing, both weapons went flying out of their users' hands. Before 9S could re-materialize his sword, he felt a fist hit his face head on. He stumbled backward, then momentarily saw Kenneth's fingers. Before they went straight through his visor and into his eye. 

9S let out a bloody scream as Kenneth gouged out his eye with all his strength. Then Kenneth grabbed his arm, and extended it, using his elbow, he broke 9S' arm. 9S then threw an orb of energy at Kenneth, forcing him to take evasive action. "Pod...!" 9S panted, "Fix my arm! Scan what his fighting style is, I don't have a defense counter combo for it."

"Scanning: Complete. The human is using old military martial arts, Krav Maga, and Russian Systema." stated the Pod, as it put 9S arm into place a.

"Make counter combos and send them to me." responded 9S.

"This unit suggest that unit 9S should not-"

"Shut up! Just send them!"

"...Affirmative."

On the other side, Kenneth rushed to grab his sword. "Damn it... Pod, how much longer until A2's virus is gone?"

"Approximately seven more minutes."

"Dammit! Keep backing me up!"

"Confirmed."

Pod-042 began to lay down covering fire as Kenneth tried to run to 9S' blind spot. As he ran toward him again, 9S was quicker this time around and blocked his blade with his own. As he swung his blade again, 9S began to block more and more of Kenneth's swings. Kenneth attempted to break 9S' arm again, but this time, 9S knew how to counter it. So as 9S began to throw Kenneth, he was forced to let go of his sword and punched 9S straight in the chest. It sent him stumbling backward, and this time, Kenneth flung 9S to the ground using his own weight, then locked his arm.

But Pod-153 threw some kind of rope around Kenneth and flung him off. As Kenneth grabbed his sword, 9S re-materialized his in his hands. Kenneth ran forward and tried to slash 9S' legs, but he jumped up and bought his blade down. Had Kenneth not dodged a second earlier, the gash he found on his shoulder would've nearly severed his right arm. But it was just a nasty cut. The pain shocked him, he had been hit and punched before, but never slashed. It hurt so much, and it also burned a lot. Kenneth had no time to dwell on the pain.

"You actually trying to kill me?" asked he.

"I told you! You shouldn't exist anymore!" shouted 9S back.

9S managed to slash Kenneth again, this time, he yelped. It wasn't as deep of a gash, but it was on his stomach. He held his wound, dodging again. 9S threw his sword, Kenneth hardly had enough time to deflect it, "Pod!" he yelled. 042 fired a grenade and then several missiles to try and deter 9S. "I can't beat him like this..." whispered Kenneth, "Is this what 2B would want? For you to kill a human?! In this manner no less!?" 

9S seemed to falter for a moment, but he kept going, ignoring what Kenneth had just said. "SHUT UUUUP!!!!" he screamed.

He charged forward Kenneth blocked and parried two blows, he hit 9S sword back and found an opening, "Pod! Stop defending me! Focus on A2!" 

"Warning: That would be against the direct order of unit A2. Doing so will-"

"Do it! How long will it take?" asked Kenneth as he swung his sword.

"One minute."

"Take the chance!" shouted Kenneth, finally landing a slash on 9S. 

"Affirmative." said the Pod flying off. Kenneth let his guard down, and that was a fatal mistake. This time, 9S hit the sword right out of his hand, effectively disarming Kenneth. He grabbed Kenneth by both his arms, and mimicking the military fighting styles that he used, threw him to the ground. He sat on top of Kenneth and raised his sword.

"STOP 9S!!" screamed A2.

Alas, it was too late, 9S plunged the blade into Kenneth's abdomen. He let out a blood-curling cry as the wound sprayed blood. A2 screamed as well, as she just saw him get impaled, but just like a miracle, "Virus eliminated."

A2 immediately went into her berserker mode, materialized her sword and lunged straight at 9S, before he could react, his entire arm went flying. He too let out a blood curling cry, and held his stump. He jumped off Kenneth's motionless body and looked into her eyes, burning with rage. "DAMN!!!" he screamed. Pod-153 fired a smoke bomb, and when it cleared, he was gone.

A2's berserk stage turned off, and she looked back at Kenneth, who had stopped screamed and stopped moving. "Kenneth!" she shouted, running toward him, she saw he was bleeding quite a bit, "Pod..." she said shakily, "Scan him."

"Scanning: Confirmed, the individual known as Kenneth is still alive. However, he is loosing blood and needs treatment immediately. Proposal, Unit A2 should contact medical androids, Devola, and Popola."

A2 looked relieved and then back at Kenneth's closed eyes. "You damn idiot..." she said quietly.

"Thanks..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kenneth sure has a lot of combat training.  
Sorry for being so late.


	6. Happy New Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umm... I know I've been gone, but I'm working on a chapter right now. It'll be out soon, so here's a place holder. Throwback to chapter 26 of Nier: Returner.

*Dark Room*

*Lights Turn On*

*Kenneth Pops Head Out of Wall*

*A2 Does The Same*

Kenneth: I think I can go in now.

A2: You wrote this scene didn't you?

Kenneth: Yeah, but...

A2: So just go.

Kenneth: Oh, alright...

*Both A2 And Kenneth Walk Into The Room*

Kenneth: I suppose we should start.

Some Voice: Nope, not yet.

A2: Who in the-

*Person Walks in, Revealed to be Twenty-Four Year-Old Lars, Who Has a Halo on His Head*

Lars: Hey. A2?

A2: Who the hell are you? I've already have one human to deal with, I don't need to deal with another one.

Kenneth: When you say it that way, it sounds awful.

A2: You're just a handful, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Lars: I see, you must be another version of A2.

A2: You know me?

Lars: Another version, she's my wife.

A2: Your what?

Kenneth: Lars, what are you doing here? You're _my_ character! I thought I killed you off.

Lars: Well, you wrote this scene. You didn't even include any of my friends.

Kenneth: Last time I tried doing that, you all tackled me!

Lars: Yeah, 'cause you put us all in one cramped room.

Kenneth: You have a point. 

A2: Can we just get to the point of whatever this is? I'm getting bored.

*Kenneth leans over to Lars*

Kenneth (Whispering): The A2 I wrote was a lot more friendlier.

Lars (Whispering back): Yeah, that's because she met me early on. I kinda had an influence on her.

Kenneth (Still whispering): You're right.

A2: What the hell are you two idiots doing now?

Kenneth: Sorry.

Lars: Alright, let's get to it.

Kenneth: I'm really sorry. Anyway, I know I've been away, but hey, life gets in the way, school is real big right now. But I'm working on a new chapter, Devola and Popola will be in it.

Lars: He missed Christmas, and according to him, this chapter was supposed to be a Christmas themed one. 

Kenneth: I was busy!

Lars: Didn't say that when you were working on my story.

Kenneth: Why you little-! C'mere!

*Kenneth And Lars Start Fighting, Lars Having the Upper-Hand*

A2 (Deadpan): Ugh, that kid... Anyway, Happy New Year, we'll be back. 

*Lars Holding Kenneth in Choke Hold, Both Look up With Smiles*

Both: Happy New Year.


	7. It Certainly Has Been a While

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quite the period of time has passed since Kenneth has fought 9S. He sustained quite the injuries, but will he recover is the real question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!  
So sorry I'm late.

He was in the void of darkness. Not knowing where he was, or where he was drifting towards. He seemed small compared to everything else, insignificant, in fact. He looked around, seeing nothing but darkness, in fact, it was so dark that he could not even see his own body. Was this the end? He couldn't really do anything about it if it was. The last thing he remembered was being stabbed by that bastard that tried to kill his friend. He tried to attack him, a human. He knew how the story went, that guy, that android, had gone insane at this point.

The love of that android's life was dead, by the hands of someone whom he already viewed as a traitor. He could not blame that android, he merely came in at the wrong time, he was too late. It was not his fault he was like this. It was the plan of the organization to eventually die. The story was one of sadness and heartache, the one floating knew that all too well, as he had been through it many times.

As he lay there adrift, his head began to feel funny. It was as if he was floating in the sea, the waves underneath him. Lifting him and putting him back down.

Up...

Down...

Up...

Down...

Up...

Down...

And then, it stopped. He was being pulled down by something unknown. Perhaps it was whatever sent him here... Perhaps that it saw that it was not possible for him to survive here! Perhaps he could go back to his family! He could-

"GAH!" yelped Kenneth as he shot up. It was dark, he couldn't see much but he heard something thud on the ground.

"Ow..." it was a voice of a female, "Hey, you're awake." she said. Kenneth's vision adjusted, he was in his bed in his room, and he looked to his left. There sat a straight, red-haired beauty, she looked up at him with kind, warm, green eyes. Judging from the fallen stool next to her, he must've scared her in his outburst. 

"Popola?" asked Kenneth, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"So you _do_ know my name." she responded, "And no problem. A2 was right..." she chuckled.

"About what?" asked Kenneth as he was gently pushed back down.

"You actually know a lot of things. Even the name of some android you've never met. That must also mean..." she stopped as she wrung a towel dry after dipping it in water.

"Yeah, I know of your model's past..." responded Kenneth, "But hey, try not to beat yourself up too bad... I mean, you have a human right here, don't you?"

"Yes, but... You're from a different world... Not one of our humans..."

"I see that A2 informed you of everything. But still, even if I'm not one of your humans, please, live on... It hurt me so much to see you and your sister die. The first time I saw it, I cried."

"We die?" she asked.

"Yes, I know of everyone's fate. But originally, that machine, Pascal. You know him?" asked Kenneth. Popola nodded in response. "Well, he was originally supposed to die. Him and those children. But ever since my appearance in this world, the story that I know seems to be deviating. So I'm hoping, maybe you'll live through this. I don't _want_ you guys to die. It was bad enough to see the both of you die from afar, but for it to happen as I stand in this world, it'd be devastating. So I'm begging you, atone by living..." She seemed confused, "Atone by remembering Humanity, atone by seeing another day. I'm sorry if I seem selfish, but it's just the way I am..."

Popola stayed silent for a long while. She wrung the towel completely dry and silently placed it on Kenneth's head. "It's quite strange." she said. "I just met you, and you haven't even been awake for a long time, yet, you're already making a very strange request that I'm not even sure we can fulfill." Kenneth waited to be scolded, "But you know what? We'll do our best to not die. In fact, it's a promise."

"W-what? You aren't mad?" 

"Now why would I be mad, silly?" asked she. "When you said all that, you seemed to have the best intentions for us in mind, so I'm not mad at all. And now that I've been ordered by a human to not die, then I'll do my upmost best to not let us die."

"Popola... Thank you." said Kenneth, "Speaking of 'us', where is your sister? And A2?"

"They went back to the base to get some supplies. Somehow, your home has everything you need to survive, except for some specific things."

"I have another question as well."

"Go on ahead." replied Popola as she set the stool upright again.

"How did you know I was injured, and how did you know where I even was?"

"Well, after your fight, A2 gave us a call. She said that a friend of her's was injured and-"

"Friend? Is that what she referred to me as?"

"Yes, surprised?"

"Kinda, go on."

"Devola and I came here as quickly as possible. Of course, we had to tell Anemone where we were going. But don't worry, we wouldn't compromise your position. We didn't tell her you were a human. Otherwise, you'd be swarmed by other androids eager to look at a human. You'd probably be moved for security reasons as well. But we know you can fight, A2 told us you held your own against your foe. She didn't tell us who it was though."

"I see."

"So who was it?"

"Huh?" Kenneth was now afraid. If he were to tell her that it was 9S, surely she would turn against him, the whole camp would, and in the long run, it would make things worse. "It was..." he hesitated, whilst Popola awaited her answer, but suddenly, there was a door opening underneath. 

"I'll get it." she said.

"Saved..." breathed Kenneth.

*Downstairs*

"We're back, Popola. The human didn't give you much trouble didn't he?" asked an android identical to Popola, say for her hair, as she and A2 removed their shoes.

"No, he wasn't any trouble at all, in fact, he woke up. Did you bring the medicine, Devola?" responded Popola.

"Yup, got it right here." responded the sister.

"He's awake?" asked A2. Popola nodded, and with that, she rushed upstairs. She practically burst through the door, "Kenneth!?"

Kenneth let out a small yelp and immediately sat up, the towel falling off. "Oh, A2... Hey."

A2 let out a sigh of relief. "You're okay... Good." A2 took a breath, "Look, I want to thank you for saving me. That was days ago, you were out for quite a while. Anyway, thank you. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't be alive right now. But still, what you did was reckless..." Her voice softened a bit, "You've become my friend, and I don't want to lose any more of them, so please, be more careful in the future."

"It's a promise." responded Kenneth.

"Good, now, I have a few questions for you." she said.

"Go ahead." responded Kenneth laying back down. A2 placing the towel back on his head. Around this time, Devola and Popola came into the room, as they wanted to listen in on the conversation.

"Where did you learn to fight?" asked A2.

"Well, several places. I learned Russian Systema when I was a child. This past summer vacation I had is where I learned Krav Maga. And well, I also learned a bit of Hema through my life."

"Are those old fighting styles?" asked A2.

"Well, out of the three, Hema is the oldest. It dates back to medieval Europe, the style I learned was for the long-sword, which is perfect because I have the Sword of the Father. Anyway, Systema and Krav Maga are military martial arts both invented in the twentieth century. My instructor told us that Krav Maga was a martial art designed to take down an enemy using any means necessary, that includes moves that would be considered dirty in official fights like groin kicking and eye gouging."

"I see. Why did you learn such things?" 

"Well, where I come from, there's still a lot of problems. Humanity is far from creating a perfect utopia of a world. So, I gotta arm myself with the skills needed to at least survive in the world, and to protect my family and friends."

"So, that's why you fight, huh?" asked Devola, "I'm gonna admit, it's pretty nice to see a human with eyes like yours again." she added.

"Eyes like... mine?" asked Kenneth, now confused.

"They're really sincere, and you mean what you say. They aren't just empty words you hide behind, you're willing to do anything for your friends' safety, as you proved during your fight. So, who did you fight anyway?" Kenneth and A2 tensed up. Kenneth had assumed that A2 had not told them for a reason, and Kenneth believed he knew why. She also didn't want 9S to be betrayed once again, it would only make his mental state worse. But Kenneth had an ace-in-the-hole.

"Sorry, but it's better if I don't tell you guys." said he. 

"Why not?" asked Devola. Popola looked confused.

"If I told you who it was, there's no telling what might happen to this world, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you two, as much as I would like to."

Devola was about to say something, but Popola cut her off. "That's okay. It's fin if you don't want to tell us." Popola took a look at Kenneth's clock, "Look at the time, Devola, we should be getting back to the base."

"You're leaving already?" asked A2.

"Yeah, sorry, Anemone excused us for only a bit, we don't wanna betray her trust. After all, she doesn't even know what it is we're doing." responded Devola, "Medicine is downstairs, should be pretty explanatory with your Pod around, I made some modifications to him to give him some knowledge on human care and medication."

"Thank you, for everything." said Kenneth, "And sorry I can't tell you." 

"Don't sweat it, Kenneth." replied Popola with a smile, "You don't have to tell us. See ya." she said before leaving with her sister.

*Outside*

"I think you know as well as I do who it is." said Popola.

"Yeah, I was afraid, but it looks like we have to face the facts." responded her sister.

"He's the only one who would do this."

"After all, he's gone off the deep end..."

"9S..." said the both of them.


	8. A Little Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time passes as 9S' attack goes on into memory. The time that Kenneth spends in this world is quite peaceful, but it is quite lonely when A2 goes out and no one goes to visit him. Pascal has the children to care for, and Devola and Popola have things to do for the Resistance. but on one fateful day, Kenneth decides to go with his friend. Least to say, the bond they share deepens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The new chapter. Second one I wrote of 2020. In frickin' March...  
Bit of a short chapter. But next chapter is when things start to get interesting.  
If I can right them good enough...

It didn't take long for the stab wound to heal. Kenneth found his recovery being rather quick. A2 went out a lot to look for clues, so Kenneth found himself being rather lonely, that is until whenever Pascal would come along or Devola and Popola would. As he recovered more and more, he began training again, his sets of push ups, abdominal exercises, leg workouts. Recently he had managed to find a decently leg workout machine in one of the houses that weren't too destroyed, he had asked if Devola and Popola could help him fix it up, they didn't exactly know how, but Kenneth just needed them to get some material.

Soon enough, it was fixed up and moved to Kenneth's garage. The more he healed, the more he began to train again, with his sword, with his hands, training his body. Until eventually, he was fully healed, and in top-top condition again. 

Pascal would visit whenever he could, and Kenneth would teach him many human customs, even sometimes giving him a gift. Pascal would always be so happy to receive something, as all the human relics that he collected were always broken down and old. When he collected a few human machines, they would hardly even be working. But whenever it wasn't Pascal, it was A2, she talked a lot to Kenneth, more so than before, asking questions and reading many of his books, even sometimes sparring lightly with Kenneth. Even sometimes playing a video game or two (except NieR: Automata, which Kenneth had hid). But then she would leave.

When she wasn't around, Devola and Popola would come along, helping Kenneth with his meals, Popola helping him study a bit. He found out that she was actually really good at mathematics for some reason, so she helped him study.

"Yeah, my PSAT scores weren't that good at all. I took them in my sophomore year but got an 880." said Kenneth.

"So, it's a practice test for the SAT, which will determine which college you'll go to?" asked Popola.

"Yeah, my scores were so bad mainly because of my math."

"I see, well, I can help you with that. Let's begin."

It was hard, learning Algebra 2, he knew that he wasn't the smartest kid, sure he was physically fit and pragmatic in situations, but he still needed this. For one thing, it was for his own pride, and it was because the school he wanted to go to needed a pretty high SAT score, 1260. 

"So where _do_ you want to go after you finish school?" asked Popola.

"S.C.S.T." Kenneth responded simply whilst he was doing a problem.

"What is that?"

"Southern California School of the Trades, I want to be a carpenter when I'm an adult." explained Kenneth.

"I see, so designing and building furniture and houses?" asked Popola

"Really more furniture. I decided I want to be a free-lance carpenter with my own shop. But before going to school, I'm joining the Marines."

"The Marines? Are they a military group?"

"Yup, the one of the United States' military corps. Hey, affordable college and medicare sounds good to me. Plus, I get to learn a lot of skills there."

"That's great, you have a good head on your shoulders. Let me see." she studied Kenneth's paper, and a grin spread across her face, "Very good, you're improving a lot." 

She was about to say something else, when Devola spoke up. "Popola! We have to go! Anemone is calling us back!"

"Coming!" responded Popola. "Sorry, Kenneth, Anemone is calling us back."

"Whatever she has for you, it must be important. From what I remember, you and your sister do the jobs no one else does, right?"

"Yeah, that's it. Keep studying, okay? We'll be back soon." said Popola as she gave Kenneth a hug.

"I will, see you."

"Bye." said Popola as she broke the hug and went downstairs to leave.

Kenneth was once again alone, he had finished up studying for the day, so he decided that he would train. Kenneth looked at the clock, and it was only about two in the afternoon. So he began his reps, push ups were a bit easier to do now, but his elbows were still as fragile as the day he was born, clicking any time he did push ups or anything to do with his triceps. His sets of abdominal exercises were always what he liked, though he did not know why, it somehow relaxed him, despite the pain. 

As he kept working out for a whole hour, A2 came back, and she walked in on him doing his strength training for the first time. "So _this_ is what you mean by strength training." said she.

"Y-yeah..." grunted Kenneth as he was finishing up his sit ups. A2 patiently waited for him to finish, and when he did, tossed him his shirt. "Thanks... So, how was today? See anything interesting?"

"Not really, only traces of 9S I can find are destroyed machine parts. Other than that, there's not really any traces of him."

"I see, no sign of him around here either. I had Pascal help me set up a few motion senors in the vicinity, and a few hidden turrets, but they spot nothing except you guys whenever you lot come in. Makes me wonder if he's actually gonna come back."

"I hope not, he might have counter measures set up this time. You were able to get him pretty good last time because he couldn't analyze you as an opponent yet." responded A2.

"Yeah, if I end up facing him again, I won't be so lucky this time." Kenneth looked up, "Let's spar." said he.

"Can't today." replied A2 quickly.

"Oh, why not?"

"Have to upgrade my sword. But I can't find the materials to do it. Can't find it in any of the machines I destroy."

"Well, there is a titanium mine around here. I could take you to it. And from what I've seen the dig to the titanium isn't that deep." stated Kenneth.

"Then I'm going."

"Wait."

"What?"

"I'm coming with you." said Kenneth. A2 looked conflicted, almost looking like she wanted to say no, but before she could, Kenneth was step ahead. "I know how to mine just a bit. And I know where it is. So...?"

"Ugh, fine. But remember, if one enemy shows up and I can't make it, take it down. But if more show up, run. Got it?"

"Completely." responded Kenneth, "Let's go." 

The two went to the garage and Kenneth grabbed the pick-axe. They both got into the armored vehicle and took off. 

*30 Minutes Later*

They had arrived at the mine, there was a giant pool of water that had formed over the years. But there were still a few shallow spots where you could mine for titanium without having to go too deep into a cave. Kenneth grabbed the pickaxe and holstered his sword on a scabbard located on his back that he had fashioned. They walked over to a spot, and descended into a cave. It was not too deep so it would be easy to get out. "Pod." commanded A2. The flash light came on and they kept walking. 

"Scanning: Titanium alloy found." chimed Pod-042, he shined the light on the metal. Kenneth began mining, he hit the metal a bit, so there'd be a few sparks flying off. 

"Tell me if the cave is in danger of collapsing. This place is several thousands of years old. Would hate for _this_ place to be my grave."

"Affirmative."

As Kenneth mined, A2 sat down on the ground. "This is what humans used to get their resources?" she asked. "It's so dark, without the flashlight, it'd be complete darkness."

"Can you... ngh... believe kids younger than me used to work in these places?" asked Kenneth as he got a chunk. 

"They did?"

"At one point in history, yes..." responded Kenneth grimly. "I just hope that it never happens again. Some people in my world would prefer it to go back to that. Makes us kids tough they say... it's just a load of shit. The moment they enter the mines, they'd be scared shitless..." Finally he stopped, "This enough?" asked he, whilst wiping some sweat off his forehead.

A2 looked at the pile, "Just a bit more." she responded.

"Osu." responded Kenneth. He mined for a a few more minutes.

"That's enough, thanks." said A2. She digitized the pile and got outside. She headed toward the vehicle, but Kenneth stopped her. "What is it?" she asked. 

"I wanna see something with you. My brother and I would sometimes sneak past this place just to get there. Please?"

"Fine, but after that, we go." replied A2. They walked to a rather steep hill and began to climb it. But when they got to the top it was all worth it.

The clouds were just right in the sky, and the sun shined brightly on the land they saw. The flowing water was evident, along with the life surrounding it. Trees stretched across the land, far as the eye could see. The mountains in the distance touched the clouds, flowers wilting and blooming at the same time. Colors of every sort filled her eyes, and something began to slide down. "Tears?" asked A2 to herself.

"You're crying because of the beauty, A2. You androids may tell yourself that you have no hearts, but there's one thing you guys forget time and time again." A2 looked at Kenneth, who was just looking forward, "That you've felt emotion more times than you can count. Sure, you may not be 'human', but to me, 'humanity' is a broad term. It doesn't just refer to a certain species, it's what a being has. And to be quite honest, I think that you'll be more human than some humans ever will be." Kenneth sighed, "I'm glad that this place is still here, and I'm glad I showed it to you."

They both stood there for a while longer, than Kenneth began to leave, "I'll start the car, come down when you're ready." he began walking down the hill.

"Kenneth...!" A2 called. Kenneth looked back, at an A2 who was smiling gently, "Thank you for showing me this... You've been a great friend..." she said awkwardly. 

Kenneth just chuckled, "No problem, take your time." and walked down. 

A2 stared at the land a bit more, she heard the engine start up.

"I've never quite realized... How beautiful this world is..." said she before sliding down to join her friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I made up a school, but bear with it please.  
Stay safe out there, people! Wash your hands and cover your mouth when coughing.  
And no, I'm not sick.


	9. It's About Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time begins to fly for Kenneth. As time goes by, he begins to realize it in his heart, he really does like Popola. She was just so kind, he just hopes that she feels the same way. But what of her sister, he hopes that she will be fine with it as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This kinda came out of no where.

Much time had passed since Kenneth took A2 to the mine. Afterwards, time had begun to move by very quickly now. The days no longer felt dreadful anymore, and before Kenneth knew it, six months had passed. Pascal visited as often as he could, bringing the children sometimes, and the red-haired twins did the same. He knew that things really were deviating, but the fact that it was taking A2 so long to find 9S worried him. He had always found the ending to the game sad, perhaps if he were here, the deviations would continue, and he could see his beloved characters survive.

The days went by, whenever A2 was around, they'd talk, maybe do some sparring. Now Kenneth was at his peak, he was the most fit he had ever been in his whole life, and it's because of one huge summer break extension. On one of the matches, before they started, Kenneth asked, "A2, what do you think of Popola?"

"Why do you ask?" responded A2.

"Just a question, I just want your opinion."

"She's really nice, and sweet." A2 replied, then she gave Kenneth a certain look. Over the past six months, she had learned much of human culture and customs in the time she would spend with Kenneth. "Are you asking her out on one of those 'dates'?" 

Kenneth's face flushed red, and he just silently looked at A2, "...Yes..." he responded.

"Well, in my opinion, yeah, she's really nice. I can see why you like her. But you _do_ know she's an android, right?"

"And humans _are_ strange creatures." replied Kenneth, "After all, she seems human enough to me..."

"Focus."

"Right. Right."

Kenneth readied his fighting stance, as did A2. Usually, Kenneth was the one who charged forward, but this time it was A2. As she was running, in a few seconds, Kenneth had find out a strategy of how to use her weight against her (she isn't fat, she's an android weighing over 300 pounds). As she flew up to kick him, he grabbed her leg and used his other hand to push her down to the ground. But she was quick to get up, she threw a pretty held back punch, which Kenneth blocked. Though it was merely a jab, it sent Kenneth sliding back. It was a good thing that he was wearing his martial arts shoes, otherwise, the skin on his soles would've been scrapped away.

He looked back up to see A2 charging at him once again. Kenneth threw a punch which was easily slapped aside, this time, Kenneth used his legs to scissor lock A2's hand. As they crashed to the floor, A2 easily lifted Kenneth up, though he visibly had more muscle mass than her, she was an android who was naturally stronger than any other human that would ever exist. She easily threw Kenneth off. Kenneth knew he had to do something, or he'd lose again. Then he remembered...

Kung Fu.

A2 this time didn't charge. Though he had forgotten to mention it that time he first met Devola and Popola, he had been practicing Kung Fu whenever she wasn't around. He had even been in quite a few sparring matches, in his past, and he won many of them. But this would not be any of his old sparring matches, this was a fight against an android, and she was made for attacking. In those few split seconds, he went over what he knew, Shaolin, Xing Yi Quan, Hung Gar Kuen, and Baguazhang. It was after those few split-seconds where he changed his stance.

A2 obviously noticed this, and looked, focusing her eyes. Kenneth moved into his Baguazhang stance and began creeping in circles around A2.

*See Compete With Established (Skip to 0:34)*

Kenneth spun around and tried to hit A2, she easily blocked it, so Kenneth followed up with with a back hand blow which actually managed to connect this time. A2 stumbled a bit, so Kenneth did a low kick, which worked only for a bit. It took her a few milliseconds to regain her stance and as Kenneth almost hit her with a palm strike had almost hit her. She evaded and Kenneth kept spinning and attacking, he was turning, and making his attacks look like they were coming from all over the place, all the while trying to trip her using the heels of his feet. She found an opening on his back as he turned for another attack and kicked him, making him stumble.

He had to quickly regain his stance as he faced her again, she was standing there, waiting for an attack. So Kenneth tried to circle around her again, but she stepped in front of him, so he switched hands and spun around, she did so again, and he spun around, switching hands. Once again, he tried to hit her with a palm strike, which she blocked this time, Kenneth swept, so she lifted her leg and got hit by both open hands. A2 caught herself just in time to see Kenneth trying to kick her, this time, she grabbed his leg and flung him to the ground, she then pinned him there, "Resist and I'll break your leg..." she said teasingly.

"I.. yield..." said a very strained Kenneth. 

*Fade*

Kenneth sat up and massaged his leg. "Not bad, aren't I?"

"What was that you used against me? I've never seen it before." 

"It's a kind of Kung Fu, it's name is Baguazhang." responded Kenneth.

"What is that?"

"It's a Chinese fighting style. I guess I forgot to mention it that time I told you guys how I learned to fight. I've been learning Kung Fu through my life. It's really more of a broad term that covers Chinese martial arts."

"Is it the only one you know?" asked A2.

"No, I know others as well. But don't think I'll just tell you them and show them off, you'll have to wait until the next sparring match for me to use them." he proclaimed.

"Then I look forward to our next match." replied A2. 

The day rest of the day went by smoothly. Kenneth awaited the twins' arrival. He didn't know what he would say to Popola. It happened over the course of six months, he had begun to fall for her. She was kind, beautiful, smart, and definitely strong, at least stronger than himself. He kept his feelings inside his heart, and decided that if he were to see her today, he'd let them out and be honest with himself. He wondered when she'd come in fact, his heart raced as he thought of her, but he stopped. _"Aren't I being a bit creepy?"_ he thought to himself. _"I'll let her be the judge of that."_

He waited and waited through the day. But he didn't let it get to him, A2 went out in the mean time, leaving Kenneth alone with his thoughts. He looked at the calendar, he'd been here for so long, he only had about six more months until he would be sent back to his own world. Kenneth could only hope that he could cause enough deviations for the ones he had hoped to survive, well, survive. It was when he was in his thoughts when he heard a beep go off on his terminal. Someone or something had set off the sensor. He looked at the footage and saw that it was Devola and Popola. 

"They're here..." breathed Kenneth.

The two of them walked to the door and knocked. 

"Kenneth?" asked Devola.

"Yeah!" called Kenneth in response. He opened up the door for them, they took their shoes off and came in. "Welcome, can I get you two something to drink?"

"Just water." responded Popola, "Are you ready to study?"

"Yup."

"You two just do what you gotta, I'll be down here doing some maintenance on your stuff." said Devola as Popola and Kenneth went upstairs.

As the hours went by, Kenneth's heart pumped harder and harder, until finally, the golden moment has come. They had finished studying and Popola was about to walk right out the door, her hand was on the door knob when Kenneth spoke up, "Popola?" he asked.

"What is it?" she asked in response.

"Can I talk to you privately, and personally...?"

"Sure... What's on your mind?" asked Popola.

"Here goes..." Kenneth whispered to himself. "For the longest time, I've felt something. Something in my heart, and I've bottled it up for a while now. These past six months, it's built up, and my I feel this way whenever I'm around you." her eyes widened, Kenneth hoped that he didn't make it creepy, he kept going. "I've never really felt this way before, sure I've had a few crushes, but never this way. It might be what a teenager calls 'love', but I'm not really sure. But, what I'm saying is, I..." Popola waited, it was as if she wanted him to say it. "...Love... You. I love you." said Kenneth.

Popola stayed silent for a bit, she said nothing as she walked over to Kenneth and gave him a hug. "Oh, Kenny..." she said, something that only those close to Kenneth would call him. "Thanks... I don't know how long I've waited for those words to be said to me. Thank you..." she tip toed a bit to kiss Kenneth. He had gotten it, his first kiss. "But, I'm gonna need some more affection before I can say those words. Can you stand that?"

"Of course." that feeling that Kenneth had was gone. He was now with the one he loved.

However...

"Popola!" called Devola.

"What is it?" asked Popola as she and Kenneth broke their embrace.

"It's 9S! He's going to the Tower! He's gonna try and enter it!"

Popola gave Kenneth a look, Kenneth thought for a bit, he nodded, albeit reluctantly. He had just confessed and she practically reciprocated, this happened at the worst possible timing. There was the possibility that she could die. "I'll come back..." she said as her hand caressed his face. 

"You better..." Kenneth looked up, "Popola!" she turned around. He wanted to tell her who he had fought, that first day they met, but those were not the words that came out. "Take the vehicle, it's really simple to use."

"Thanks, and don't worry, I promise I'll be back alive." 

And just like that, Popola raced out the house with her sister and into the garage. They pulled out and raced off into the distance, Kenneth only watching from a window.

"Hey." said Popola in the car.

"What is it?" replied Devola.

"Why _are_ we helping him?" asked Popola.

"Maybe it's obligation deep within us. Maybe it's that promise we made to 2B."

"I suppose you're right... And yet, still, I can't help but feel wrong for still wanting to help 9S."

"Is it because he's the one who hurt Kenneth?"

"Yeah... But a promise is a promise, 2B wanted him to be a good person, and I guess we'll make sure that it happens."

It didn't take them that long to get to the Tower, 9S was already there, frantically fighting. They jumped in front of him. "Devola? Popola?" asked he.

"Hello, 9S..." said Popola.

"We expected you'd do this..." added Devola. She and her sister began slashing machines, "But don't get the wrong idea..."

"What are you talking about?" asked 9S.

"Don't worry about, just get going!" shouted Popola.

9S just nodded and began hacking the entrance.

_"Why am I helping him...?"_ thought Popola. 

As 9S kept hacking, Popola couldn't hold it in anymore, "I don't forgive you for harming him!" 9S picked up, but didn't say a word. "But this is for 2B, you have to become a better man, 9S...!"

"I..." just then the hacking had completed, the doors managed to open this time, 9S quickly went inside, "I'm sorry..." he said. It wasn't loud enough for the twins to hear, and he wouldn't get another chance. The doors had already closed, 9S had basically left them to die.

"Yeah, I _am_ sorry... But I can't turn back now..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter begins the final arc! Look forward to it!  
I myself am not a robosexual, but can't deny that Popola is a real looker.( ͡◉ ͜ʖ ͡◉)  
Baguazhang scene inspired by Ip Man 2! (Ip Man vs. 3 masters) Except it's much shorter, because, come on, normal human martial-artist versus an attack android made for fighting? (I don't actually do Baguazhang, Hung Gar Kuen, Systema, Krav Maga, Hema, my character does).  
How 9S managed to get in? Deviation...


	10. This is the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A2 will now go to the Tower, and inevitably fight 9S, who will truly perish? Or will yet another deviation happen and change the fates of everyone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School has been real busy, even when online, sorry it took so long.

A2 was walking around, she was actually quite curious how Kenneth's little confession went, "I guess I could go back now." she said to herself. She began to walk back when Pod-042 gave her and alert.

"Alert: Unit 9S is currently at the Tower. Proposal: Unit A2 should go to the Tower and find out what 9S' intentions are." 

"Yeah, I know that, but I gotta make sure Kenneth's alright first." responded A2 as she dashed to the house. It didn't take long for her to get there, as she was an android made for fighting, it didn't take long for her to get there. When she arrived, she was quick to enter the home and look around. "Kenneth? You here?"

"Yeah!" called Kenneth, "Devola and Popola took off in the armored vehicle, the Tower isn't that far away, you can make it." he said.

"I'm going..." said A2 grimly, "You said you know more than I'll ever know, what happens according to your knowledge?"

Kenneth hesitated. "All of you die, you Devola, Popola, 9S. Sure there's still hope for you guys, but... Knowing that someone might die and bonding with them makes an effect happen. The deviations already started when I arrived. So please, make it there before they both die, I can't loose any of you... Save 9S, and come back, would you?"

A2 glanced away from him, then she gave him a hug, "You're the first friend I've had in years. I'll make sure I come back to you." Kenneth took something out, it was a combat knife.

"This thing saved my life back on day one. It's invulnerable, and the voice told me a while back that it has a pivotal role in this world now, maybe it'll bring you good luck." he gave it to A2, she grasped it and looked at it. The reinforced blade's green lines shined and gleamed.

"Thank you. I'll be back..." said she before she dashed out the door.

"I hope so..." said Kenneth.

Moments after she left, he heard gunfire and got a notification on one of his monitors upstairs. He bolted up the stairs to look at the monitor to see that the motion sensors had been set off. He looked at the footage and saw that machines had entered the villa, there were only about four of them, about a dozen lie completely full of holes in the back, then he saw the turrets being destroyed, the machines began to advance towards his house. "Only four..." said he. Kenneth grabbed his sword, "Time for that training to pay off, I _will_ be alive if they return... No... _When_ they come back." He ran outside the gate to face the machines, there were two small ones and two big ones, the small ones had no weapons, the one of the two big ones had a gun, and the other had bare fists. "COME ON THEN YOU BUCKET OF BOLTS!!! FACE ME!!"

*Transfer*

A2 made it, what she saw was piles and piles of machine parts strewn everywhere, and two androids who sat against the wall in the shade. She ran towards them, hoping that they were still alive, "Devola! Popola!" she called as she ran towards them. 

"A-A2?" asked Devola. Popola only looked at her.

"Are you guys...?"

"We're fine..." responded Popola, "We'll live... It's 9S..."

"I know, inside the Tower. What about you guys? You're in horrible condition..." and they were, chunks of flesh were missing from Devola's cheek, revealing bits of skeleton and her teeth, her arm was twisted the other way, but aside from that, she had minor lacerations and scratches. However Popola had lost a whole leg and her other was badly damaged, she also had a few puncture wounds in her torso, 

"I can still heal, I'm less damaged." said Devola, "I'll make sure my sister's alright, you go on ahead. Make sure you get 9S back, I know you can do it." 

"Thanks..." responded A2, she prepared to go in but Popola stopped her one last time.

"I... I know..." she looked at A2, "I know that it was 9S that hurt Kenneth... _We_ knew, and we still helped him... Can you tell us why?"

"Maybe it's because deep down in the darkest depths of our hearts, we want to believe that 9S still has good deep within him. It's the events before this that led him into being the boy he is now." said A2.

"We don't have hearts, we're androids, remember?" asked Popola.

"Kenneth told me a long time ago that he knew we had hearts. To him, a heart isn't just some organ that humans have, anything can have it. He told me that we can already feel emotions and do things outside of our basic programming. 'Humanity' is a broad term to him, we can feel emotions, love each other and do so much more outside what we're told to do. To him, we _do_ have hearts, and therefore, will be more human than some actual humans will ever be." explained A2.

"I see... So I guess we're quite human after all..." said Popola before she passed out.

"Don't worry about her, get inside that tower and do what you gotta." said Devola as she started to heal Popola. 

A2 entered the Tower and looked around the room she found herself in. "Here I come 9S."

*A Long While Later*

9S' flight unit flew up the Tower wall, chasing the ball like machine that evaded him. He launched a barrage of missiles and all of them hit. "Come on you mechanical bastard! FALL!" but the machine didn't, it just kept going up. Eventually it reached the end and flew up, 9S followed, at the top it flew up into the air, 9S kept shooting at it. It began it's descent, and 9S launched right out of his flight unit and landed. He looked at the now balled up machine, he heard another set of footsteps and noticed another pair of footsteps coming, he looked over and saw A2. Immediately, he drew his sword, ready to fight her.

He was about to say something else but a loud sound had interrupted him. The machines were once again moving, the one that A2 was just fighting and the one that 9S had just fought as well. The machines began to fuse, two enormous clawed arms now sprouted out of the machines and it began it's assault.

Both of the androids began to move as the machine started to attack them. It spun around, shooting as much energy as it could. It moved towards A2 to try and slice her, but it was easy for her to block with her swords. With a few blows she deflected it's arms and turned it around, as she gave chase, slashing every moment she could get close, 9S threw his sword and spun it around many times, all of them hitting the machine. 

Both of the halves were already pretty damaged from the fight they had separately with the androids, so it was turning out to be an easier fight than both A2 and 9S thought. 9S began to hack it, moments later, an entire arm was blown right off the machine. A2 threw a lance and shot two bracers right into an exposed part, causing more explosions within the enormous foe.

This managed to send the machine skidding backwards, A2 saw this as her chance and jumped up, with a shout, she sent a sharp shock-wave right through the machine's center, splitting it in two. 9S saw this as his chance and had one shot to destroy this thin, once and for all. "Pod!" he shouted. Pod-153 then opened up the top part of her body and fired a laser right into the center point of the machine, destroying it. 

The following explosion blew A2 right off her feet, but she was able to recover. With the machine gone, now they were able to focus on each other, as A2 got back up, she turned over to 9S, who in turn looked over to her. They stared at each other in silence, until A2 finally broke it.

"This tower is a giant cannon that's aimed at the human server on the moon. If we don't do something, all of humanity's remaining data will be destroyed." said she.

9S said nothing, he just gave her an empty stare, but then began to laugh. "So what?" he asked. "None of it matters. Or didn't you know?" A2 seemed confused. "We aren't required in this world anymore. Humanity is extinct." A2 was shocked, Kenneth didn't tell her this, he claimed to have known everything, but did he know this? Or did he just not tell her. "That moon sever you're so worried about was invented to give us androids something to fight for... And YoRHa was created to perpetuate the lie. But in order to make sure no one learned to truth, we were _designed _to be killed. They built a back door in the Bunker and programmed it to activate after a certain amount of time. The Commander? Me? 2B? Sacrificial lambs! All of us! Isn't that HILARIOUS?! Doesn't that make you want to LAUGH?!" 

A2 didn't know what to say, but she had to try, "9S, we need to-"

"Shut up! You killed 2B!"

"That's all we need to keep killing each other. _That's_ why I tried to take something from you. That human in your care, I tried to kill him the same way you killed 2B. Humans are extinct, so why is _he_ here!?" he yelled, "But since you're here, I might as well just finish you! Forget the human!"

"2B hated to keep killing you. It caused her so much pain." 9S winced, "The 9S type is a high-end model. They knew you'd discover the truth eventually. But the model designation '2B' was just a cover." she stood up straight and looked 9S right into his eyes. "The official designation... is 2E. Number 2, Type E. They were a special class of members designed to execute YoRHa units. But you knew that... Right, 9S?"

"Shut up..." he growled, "Shut up!" he pointed his sword at her, "What do you know? You don't know anything at all about us!"

Pod-153 floated up to 9S, "Proposal: Cease combat. Fighting her at this point would be irrational and-"

"Pod-153! I order you to halt all logical thought and speech! This order shall remain in effect until you confirm the death of either myself or unit A2!" Pod-153 then stayed silent. "I've made my choice..." he growled, "I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to rip your limbs off, and then make you watch as I burn that human of yours alive..."

A2 stayed silent, it was clear now, if Kenneth was going to be safe, then 9S had to be taken down. They both readied their battle stances. Once they dashed back, it began.

*Nier Automata-Sound of the End*

A2 dashed forward and 9S did the same, he ordered his pod to fire a laser beam, which A2 dodged with ease, she ran up to him and slashed at him, but then he dodged. 9S was dodging every single one of A2's swings. Every time he dodged, his hand found itself on somewhere part of her body. 

Suddenly, her speed decreased, along with her vision. It was all getting static and she started having trouble seeing. 

"Alert: Functionality reduced due to hacking activity. Proposal: Destroy YoRHa unit 9S." said Pod-042.

"Damn it..." cursed A2. She didn't want to have to do it. She had made a promise to 2B to protect 9S, but it looks like it was a promise she couldn't exactly keep. Suddenly, she was put into hacking space where 9S was shooting at one of her components, she tried to defend it, but he was too good and managed to damage it. When she was put back into normal time, her eyes were still seeing static but now everything was also red. She couldn't make out much, but she did see 9S with a hammer made or energy swinging down on her. 

A2 narrowly evaded and was blown right off her feet. Right into a field where 9S had slowed time, she was then hit with a bomb at her feet, sending her flying. Pod-042 began firing bullet after bullet at 9S, but he had created a field which deflected every single bullet fired. A2 was suddenly hacked again, this time she looked around and it wasn't all out of order this time, it was much more simpler to defend herself. This time, she destroyed the intruder that was 9S.

When back in real time, 9S was thrown off and A2 finally managed to get close. She slashed away at him, Pod-153 fired a laser at her, A2 evaded again. Now she was farther away from him. "It doesn't matter! None of this matters!" screamed 9S.

"9S!" called A2, as she kept evading missiles.

"But if it doesn't matter... why do I long for humans like this?!" he screamed, shooting another bomb, this time A2 cut it in half and charged straight for him. "Why do I desire the touch... of something that no longer exists!? Why do I want to talk to him!? WHY DO I WANT TO UNDERSTAND!?" A2 realized he was talking about Kenneth, the reason why he didn't kill Kenneth back then was because of a consciousness he still had.

"It's how we were made!" responded A2, cutting him straight across the chest. "Androids were designed to protect their human masters. Our core programming demands that we do it. But it's just about that, a friend of mine told me once! That we're more human than we think! It's the same with you! Why do you think that-"

A2 was cut of when 9S sent her into the air with a combat bracer, "Shut up..." he growled. "Shut up, Shut up! Shut UP! SHUT UP!!" he screamed. "Fine then. I'll just destroy him!" He giggled, "If he just goes away... that'll solve everything!!" 9S grabbed his sword and tried to slash down at A2.

"Damn it... I..." she cursed. She knew that 9S was out of Kenneth's blood.

"I'm not... Gonna let that... HAPPEN!!" she screamed. Her berserk mode was activated, sending 9S back, and she went forward, she was now bleeding from the mouth as it began to damage her. She clashed with 9S' blade, enough to send him off his feet. Finally, he rushed at her, trying to stab her, she deflected his blade. She matched blow for blow and had the upper hand. She managed to knock 9S right to the ground and raised her sword to finish him off, her berserk mode turning off. 

*Fade*

The finishing blow was about to come, but she remembered 2B's words, "Take care... of 9S." said 2B's voice.

"2B..." said A2, she noticed that 9S was trying to stab her, she dodged just in time, his blade nicked her. As A2 saw, 9S got back up, this time, knocking her blade out of her hand and knocking her to the floor. 9S screamed as he tried to impale her, A2 managed to roll aside and brought out the knife that Kenneth had given her. She parried 9S' sword, punched him square in the face, and plunged the knife, right into his center abdominal.

The knife was left in there, and 9S was writing in pain. He squirmed as he cried out, thrashing around in a forming pool of his own synthetic blood. Finally, he stopped, he sobbed a few more times, and finally went silent. A2 looked at 9S. "Alert: Unit 9S is not dead yet. Proposal: Unit A2 should finish off unit 9S." said Pod-042.

"Is he still infected by a virus?" asked A2.

"Affirmative." 

A2 looked at the arm. It was a 2B model's arm. Seeing that, A2 knew where the virus was coming from. A2 pulled the knife out and with one slice, cut the arm right off. "Pod. Hack in, now." said A2 as she put her hand on his head.

She was put into hacking space. She looked around. "Pod, we're gonna repair 9S' logic circuits."

"Acknowledged."

"Tell me where to find the virus corrupting 9S." said she as she began to run forward.

"Affirmative. Core data for YoRHa unit 9S is stored up ahead. Alert: Severe virus corruption. Probability of successful deletion extremely low."

"I have to try. It's a promise I made to 2B... and to Kenneth... And I think I know a way..."

"This pod is a YoRHa Tactical Support Unit. As such it cannot approve of actions that would damage it's supported unit." warned Pod-042.

A2 chuckled and smiled a bit. "You're not so bad Pod, you know that?" A2 ran up an enormous stair case, reaching 9S' body. She remembered what Kenneth said about the knife. Her idea was about to be tested. "I'll take care of everything." she said, caressing 9S' face. She materialized the knife in her hand, now digital. "Here goes nothing." Slowly, she plunged the knife right into 9S' neck. 

"Virus eliminated." said Pod-042, "Unit 9S' functions have gone into shut down mode. This YoRHa unit will restart after repairs are made."

"Damn, it actually worked." Said A2. "Pod, take care of 9S."

"What of you, A2?" asked Pod-042 as he picked up 9S' body in the outside world. 

"There's still something I need to do... You go on ahead."

"Acknowledged." said Pod-042 as he flew off.

A2 walked over to the pillar of light within hacking space. She heard laughing within it, and then that same voice she had ever only heard once. "Use the knife." said the Entity. A2 didn't respond, she just looked at it."I'm sorry everyone. But it doesn't look like I can join you guys just yet. I have someone waiting for me right now, a place where I can feel happy. But I'll be with you guys someday, just not today..." A2 used the knife as the pillar assumed a more humanoid form. She then plunged the knife into the once pillar and was put back into the regular world. 

The Tower began to crumble. A2 looked around, she saw the flight unit, it was still intact. "It's time to go..." she said. A2 jumped into the flight unit and then flew off as the Tower crumbled. She flew overhead as the entire structure caved in on itself, leaving little to no trace. She looked and also saw the armored vehicle, Devola and Popola, now looking more repaired looked up at her. 

A2 flew down and got out of the flight-unit, now completely out of fuel, she saw that Pod-153 and Pod-042 were nowhere to be seen. "They left." said Popola. "They said that 9S was going to be out for a while, they said that they have away for 2B to be restored, but it's going to be a while."

"I see..." said A2, she looked up at them, "What about you two? Are you guys going to be alright?" 

"We'll be fine. Popola and I will head back to the Resistance Camp for proper repairs, we've spent a lot of time away from there, so I think we're overdue to see Anemone again. Do you want to come with us?" asked Devola.

"No, I can't. Someone's waiting for me... I made a promise that I'd be alive when I see him." she looked at the knife, "Plus, I have something that belongs to him." 

"Alright then, we'll be back there after a while, we still have a lot on our plate here at the camp, you know where to find us, and we know where to find you." Devola and Popola stuck out their right hands, A2 remembered it was a custom. She shook Devola's and then Popola's. 

"Thank you, for everything... I mean it..." said A2. "I'll see you guys again, some day."

"Same here, take the vehicle back, you should return it to him." said Popola, "Tell him I said hello. And one more thing, have some medical data, if he's ever hurt, you'll know what to do."

The data was stored in her memory banks, even without Pod-042, she could remember it. As Devola and Popola walked back, A2 got into the vehicle. She started driving back. There was no more floating robot behind her, and she realized that the sword that 2B gave her was gone. She tried to get her old sword back, but realized that storing her weapons was up to Pod-042. "I kinda miss him being around." said she. A2 then got a message in her head.

"This message is for YoRHa unit A2." said a voice.

"Pod?" asked A2.

"Message playing: I will be returning your old sword. Currently, I am attempting to repair both units 2B and 9S. Note that this process could take a large amount of time, likely six months. This pod has the co-ordinates of the human home, and will let 2B and 9S know when they are awakened. I wish you luck in the time where we are apart, I will see you soon." then the message just ended.

"I'll see you later..." responded A2.

*A few minutes later*

A2 passed by a destroyed turret and motion sensors. She was horrified, several machines lay dead in a pile where the gunfire could be. When she arrived into the villa, she looked around, there was about three smoldering craters, and a bisected machine, it's bottom half nowhere to be found. 

A2 was now frantic, there was obviously a fight here and Kenneth was nowhere to be found. She ran around, "Oh God... please no..." she said silently. "You can't take him... He's all I have left...!" she cried. "...WHERE ARE YOU?! KENNETH!!!" she screamed. In her crying, she heard something else. A cough. A2 swung her head to the source of the sound.

There was Kenneth, sitting on the floor, his back against a wall, his head was bleeding, hair a mess, bruises were all over his body, and his sword stabbed into the bottom half of the machine. "H... hey... A2..." he said.

"You're alive!" A2 nearly shouted, she ran over and gave him a hug.

"I'll live, but I think I broke a lot of things... but still... I won... Four machines... and I won!" Kenneth began to laugh triumphantly but stopped, "OW! OW! It hurts to laugh...! Hurts to laugh...!" he wheezed. A2 was just happy that he was alive. "Where are the others? Pod-042? Devola? Popola?" he asked, "Are they alive?"

"Yeah, Devola and Popola are alright. Pod-042 took 9S, he's going to rebuild him. Look I gotta get you to safety. It's not safe out here." responded A2.

"What about your battle?" asked Kenneth, "How did it go?"

"It was hard. But your knife... it saved me... it saved 9S. You were right, it _did_ play a pivotal role, thank you..."

"One last question. Did you use the Kaio-Ken?" asked Kenneth, a smile on his face.

A2 was about to correct him, but stopped herself. 

"Yeah, I used the Kaio-Ken."

"Bitchin'..."

"Yeah, I guess it is 'bitchin'', now come on, let's get you cleaned and treated."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be focused on Kenneth's path from here on out.  
I'm quite sure you all know how A2 fought her way through the Tower, so I decided I was gonna leave that out.  
Altered the ending a bit.


	11. Forward to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it. It is now only a matter of time before Kenneth can finally go home, soon, very soon. But will he ever see his new friends of this world again? What of Popola, the one he loves? Will he even remember all of this upon his return?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like you made it to the end, folks. I hope you enjoyed.  
I'm real sorry, but I didn't have enough time to write out a proper relationship in such a short story. This is the best I got, I'm afraid.

Kenneth now lay in bed, recovering from his battle. A2 was at his side and was helping him recover as Devola and Popola were at the Resistance Base. He was now cleaned, and patched up. A2 helped him change his bandages, he really was cut up. Of course, A2 could heal herself with incredibly speed. Kenneth eventually went to sleep, after all, it was a long battle and when he was finished, he was more tired than he had ever been in his life. 

When he woke up, A2 was beside him, she had some water for him to drink. She helped him sit up and fed him the water. "Drink it slowly." she said, Kenneth then lay back down. "So, what happened after I left?"

"Well, machines attacked." responded Kenneth.

"I know that part, I want to know how you fought them." replied A2.

"For one thing, it was really hard. I mean, the turrets took out most of them, and if it weren't for my sword, then I would've never been able to do it. When they came in, I knew there was no point in hiding, so I rushed outside to confront about four machines. There were two small ones and two big ones. When the small ones hopped forward, I managed to stab one before it got too close, when I pulled my sword out, it started sparking and then it exploded, but the other small one managed to head-butt me. And let me tell you, it hurt a lot, but I managed to work through it. By this point, the big one with a gun started shooting at me. I'd be dead if those shots weren't so slow, or if you couldn't hit them out of the air."

"Anyway, I had to be on the defensive a lot, the one with a gun kept shooting, and the other one's just kept coming. Eventually, I guess I got lucky and managed to slip past, the big one and cut the small one down the middle, as you know, it exploded. However, the real challenge was still ahead of me, as I still had to face off with the two larger machines. One of them almost landed a solid hit on me, I managed to block it, but the force of the blow sent me off my feet. I managed to recover just in time, but the one with a gun somehow got an explosive. It would've been the end, but I got lucky, I managed to hit the bomb back, it managed to destroy the machine. I got punched in the head, it wasn't full force, when I was down, it also managed to break my leg." 

"Fortune must've really been on my side, or it was that entity. But it stumbled when it's leg fell right through the ground, I swung my sword so hard that when I bisected it, it sent the top half flying. And when I fell down, I was against the wall you found me, somehow, I managed to win despite an overwhelmingly low chance of victory."

"That's amazing. I'm glad that you managed to survive."

A2 and Kenneth then were silent for a few moments, it was quite awkward, but A2 remembered a question she had wanted to ask.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked A2, finally breaking the silence.

"What?"

"In the fight, when I was talking to 9S, he told me that humans had been long-extinct, is that true?" asked she.

"Oh..." Kenneth was silent for a few moments. 

"I'm not angry... I promise. I just want to know."

"Yes... yes it is..." said Kenneth shamefully. "I didn't tell you because I was afraid. Afraid that you would lose your will. I was afraid that if I told you, then you would lose your will to fight. You would lose sight of who you were."

A2 thought about it for some time. Did you really think that would've happened? Who do you think I am?" asked A2, there was not a hint of anger in her voice.

"What?"

"Ever since you became my friend, you gave me something that I'll truly treasure forever. You have given me _h__ope_, Kenneth. To be honest, I haven't felt hope in years. Ever my since my friends died, I've never even seen it once. But when I met you, you showed me your kindness and compassion. Your burning passion, it have me hope. I kinda stopped caring for the entire human race, as long as you were alive, I'll never lose sight of myself." she looked at Kenneth, "That good enough for you?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's plenty." responded Kenneth, but his throat ran dry for a few moments. "I'll be disappearing in six months time, you know. Going back to the place where I came from..."

"I know... whatever sent you here only did it for a year. So when you leave, I don't really know if I'll ever see you again. But that hope you gave me, it won't disappear, it'll stay in my... well, my heart." A2 was a bit red, she was letting out her true feelings to him, and she was not very good at it. "Because even if you're gone, you're still out there... somewhere."

"Heh... You reminded me of a quote that I came up with. 'It's better to have _known_ someone instead of never knowing someone at all. Even if you'll never see them again, you knew them enough to put them in a special place in your heart', was the quote." Kenneth chuckled a bit, "At school, I'm known as a bit of a 'philosopher'. Well, I'm not that good."

"Is that how you talked to me about humanity? And how it even extends to some of us androids?" asked A2, somewhat smiling.

"Yeah... yes it is..." replied Kenneth, he then let out a yawn.

"Well, you're getting tired. I'll let you sleep now. I'll be back to change your bandages again."

"Huh, but I just woke up..." said Kenneth.

"I was told by Devola and Popola that fatigue works in different ways, it's probably from that battle you had. See you in a bit." said she as she closed the door.

"Huh, that fight really took a lot out of me." said Kenneth as he pulled his blankets over himself more. It didn't take long for him to sleep. 

When Kenneth awoke a few hours later, A2 was back. He was strong enough to get out of bed, he and A2 then talked for the rest of the day.

The recovery process was slow, it took about two months for the leg to fully heal. Kenneth found it rather boring that he couldn't train at all, as that was what he had been doing to practically to pass the time. Devola and Popola came by often, as did Pascal. They all helped Kenneth and A2 have someone to talk to besides themselves. Sometimes, Kenneth and Popola would even go on a slight date. Finally, with another month, Kenneth was fully healed, he had another sparring match with A2, this time, Devola, Popola, and Pascal watched.

"You promised to show me more of your 'Kung Fu', remember?" said A2.

"Oh, right." said Kenneth, he put his right fist into an open hand and shook them a bit. He then put his left fist at his side, extended his right hand outward, and got into deep horse stance, he was doing the "Reserved Bridge" stance. 

*Epic Chinese Music-Kung Fu*

A2 slowly crept towards Kenneth, until she was in striking range. She threw a punch, which Kenneth dodged, he stepped into a bow stance and slugged A2 right at the side, this time making her stumble a bit. She turned back around to face him again, this time, he threw and open palm at her, it looked like a clawing technique, she saw right through it and caught it, Kenneth smacked her arm aside and hit her with both palms. This made her stumble again, and this time, Kenneth swept her with his leg, but it didn't do much good, she didn't fall. 

She ran up to Kenneth and punched him, not with enough to break his arm, but enough to send him off his feet and into the air. But this time, Kenneth landed in the "Stabilizing Bridge" stance. But then he changed it. He was in a wider horse-stance now, and both hands were open. Left at his side, and right in front of him, he was now doing his Shaolin. He was still in a low horse stance. A2 looked at him and ran towards him, this time Kenneth did not dodge. Instead he jumped at A2, kicking her in the face, he then when he landed, punched her in the chest. Instead of waiting for her to attack again this time, he ran towards her again and before she had a chance to react, round-house kicked her. Normally, a kick that hard would've knocked someone out cold, but A2 was an android, she got back up like nothing happened, just shook her head a bit.

Kenneth leapt toward her when she swung at him, he dropped onto the floor and swept her, this time, dropping her to the ground. Kenneth jumped on top of her and began unleashing blow after blow at A2. "You don't mess around... do you?" asked A2, whilst she blocked.

"Nope." Responded Kenneth. "I'd be dissing you if I held back." 

A2 kicked him off, Kenneth back flipped away to gain some distance. "Were you ever holding back before?"

"Nah, it's just that with all my experience, and with a real fight, I stand a better chance of beating you." 

"I wouldn't want it any other way." A2 lunged forward, and kicked Kenneth with a side kick, he was once again lifted off his feet and managed to recover. 

"Gotta switch." Kenneth changed his stance once again. It was a more stable stance, from one glance, A2 could tell that he wouldn't be jumping around as much anymore. His hands were now both in fists, both in front. His left in front, his right behind, his fists were upside down. He stayed where he was, when she ran forward, he only stepped, and blocked her attack with his left arm, using his right, he threw a hook at her, something which she blocked with ease. She tried sweeping him, but his stance was so strong that _she_ had trouble making him budge. Kenneth this time used a palm to knock her down and finally pinned himself on top of her. Her arm was grabbed, "Yield, or I break your arm." he said teasingly.

*Fade*

"Alright, alright. I yield this time. You finally won one against me." said A2 as Kenneth helped her up. As this happened, the others began to clap. "That was great, you finally used all of the martial arts you said you knew." 

"Well, except Xing Yi." responded Kenneth. 

"You didn't use that one, huh?" A2 dusted herself off, "Well you used them, and that was the point, I guess."

"You wanna go for another match?" asked Kenneth.

"Nah, I'm good this time, c'mon, let's go out. All of us."

"Sure, we'll come along." said Popola, Devola nodded as did Pascal.

*Fast Forwarding in Time*

Time would continue to go like that, Kenneth having a few somber moments with his friends. As the months passed by at a quicker rate, time began to run out. At this point they all knew that he would return to his world soon, they were just hoping that he could still stick around as long as he could. In fact, it seemed like every second counted. But at the end of the day, they wouldn't do anything to try and keep him here in the world they were currently in, they knew he had a family waiting for him, if they even tried for a second, it would betray him and that simply wouldn't do.

As the months passed, only a one more day remained until the day of Kenneth's arrival would come. He had one of the longest summer vacations anyone his age could have, it was even longer than his own character's, Lars' only lasted about four months more, Kenneth's lasted for another whole year. Kenneth sat on top of the roof top with Popola, staring at the view that he had. 

*Bonds- Fate Grand Order (Extended)* 

"I'm gonna disappear soon..." said Kenneth.

"I know..." responded Popola. "Hey, you'll be able to see your family again."

"Yeah but... I might not be able to see you again..."

Popola placed her hand on his cheek, "... But you'll remember me, won't you...?"

"Yeah... But I'm really gonna want to see you, in person, I can't bring you back with me, no matter how much I want to..."

"I'm going to be with you... In your heart..." said Popola, "I'm a really lucky girl to have met someone like you... You managed to teach me that I'm more than just an android, you taught that to A2 and Devola, too. So please, even if we can't see each other anymore, the next best thing is to always have each other in our hearts. That feeling of knowing someone, it'll never disappear."

"Popola..."

"Even if you travel back with no memories of the events that happened... You'll feel something, and I'm content with that... And I know you are too..."

"...Yeah... I am. After all, wasn't I the one who taught you that?" asked Kenneth.

"Well who else could have?" asked Popola, she leaned in. Kenneth responded appropriately, and they kissed once again.

*The Next Day*

Kenneth stood in the living room. His friends all there with him. Even the machine children were there. "So this is the end, huh?" Kenneth looked around. "I wanna thank you all for helping me out this past year. I mean, without any of you, surely, I'd be dead at this point."

"We ought to be thanking you..." said A2, "I think I speak for all of us when I say that you taught us so much about humanity than we ever could've dreamed of."

"That's right. You were also excellent to the children, they're all going to miss you, so very much." said Pascal. Some of the machine children looked like they were crying. Or at least making the motion of it. "And you were also a great teacher to me. Before I only ever had my books, but thanks to you, I have information from a real human. Thank you."

"You managed to give us hope. That we didn't have to die to atone. Without that, we would be dead." said Devola, "You gave me and my sis a will to live again. Hell, you even have a thing with her, and I'm so happy for you two lovebirds." she smiled widely, as Kenneth blushed a bit and smiled sheepishly.

"What she said." spoke Popola, "I love you, and you love me. It's a feeling you won't ever forget, even if you lose your memories, everything will be fine, as long as you have that feeling in your heart. Then it'll all be okay."

A2 was the last to speak up. "Kenneth... You're my very first friend in years. After my first left this world, I was all alone. Wandering without a purpose other than to just destroy machine after machine. But everything changed when you appeared. I managed to find even a sliver of hope in this world. And for that, I'll never be able to thank you enough but... thanks anyways..."

"You guys..." Kenneth teared up a bit. Then saw himself, he was surrounded by a golden light circle with particles of lights around him, a flurry began to form. "I'll never forget you all... You all were some of the greatest friends I could ever have. I leave this house to you, A2..." He began to turn into those gold particles, from the legs up. "You know... this should be around the time where 2B and 9S should come back. If they ever get here, pass on my lessons to them for me? I wanted to do that myself but that doesn't seem to be possible." Most of his body was gone now, his chest up remained. "I think they need it more than anyone." he felt sleepy, and now was practically completely gone, "Goodbye, everyone, I shall never forget, ever..." said an echo.

They all just stood there as the gold particles dispersed. They all mentally said goodbye and A2 wiped her tears a bit. Then there was a sudden knock on the door. A2 walked over and casually opened it. It was quite the shock to see both 2B and 9S standing there. Before anyone could say anything else, knelt and bowed. "A2! I'm so sorry!" he said "I acted out of rage, and I didn't know the whole story, I tried to kill you without any reason! I tried to hurt you and your friends and-"

"9S." interrupted A2, "You don't need to apologize, I should've told you the whole story. Besides, I forgive you."

"R-really? After all I did? To you? And to him?"

"Yeah, he taught me how to do a lot of things a human does." she looked at 2B, "It's been a while." 

"Likewise." responded 2B, she looked around. "When we woke up, Pod-042 and Pod-153 were there, they had us come here. Why?"

"Well, I had hoped that he would still be here when you arrived." said A2 solemnly, "He left this place to me..."

"He?" asked 2B. "Wait, who are you talking about?"

"Oh, sorry I didn't tell you." said 9S, "There was a human at one point, he was A2's friend."

"A human? Down on Earth?"

"Yeah... Actually, where is he? I remember him clearly." asked 9S to A2.

"He went back... Back to his world... I don't know if I'll ever see him again." she responded.

"Oh... I'm sorry." said 9S.

"It's fine, I think you two should sit down, I have a long story to tell you. But first, shoes off."

"Why?" asked 2B.

"Because, this is the house that he entrusted to me, and it's the rules."

"Fine." 2B took off her heels and 9S his boots.

"Devola, Popola, Pascal..." said 9S in awe, "I-"

"Don't even start, we're just going to say the same thing A2 said." responded Devola, "Now listen to her story."

2B and 9S listened to A2, as she told the entire tale, of what had happened the past year, and all the lessons that Kenneth had bestowed on all of them.

*Transition*

Kenneth woke up in his bed to his alarm, just like he did a year ago. But this time, it was much more darker. He looked at his clock, it was six in the morning, Kenneth sat up from his bed. It was almost as if it were all just a dream. A very long dream, it even felt that way. He couldn't help but feel sad, did it all even happen? Was it all really a dream. Everything in his room was left the way it was. He really was back, he looked out the window, not a single crumbled house, he heard the bathroom door open, his mother had just finished. Kenneth entered the bathroom and began to undress for a shower, "It couldn't have been a dream, can it?" he asked himself, but it was confirmed when his shirt was off.

He was more physically fit than he had ever been before, and all the scars that were on his body. He had quite a few, it was not a dream, nowhere near it. It had all happened, his body was proof. When he got out of the bathroom, he was given even more proof, there was the Sword of the Father in his room. The very same sword that was used in his fights. Kenneth continued his day, but couldn't stop thinking about the friends he had met in the other world. His junior year of high school was eventful to say the least. The days passed as he missed his friends more and more. 

It was like he just couldn't get them out of his head. On a Saturday night, Kenneth thought up what had happened to him in that one year. He looked at the blank page. Then had an idea. He decided that it would be a "stuck in another world" kind of story and began to write. He was in the midst of writing his first chapter when he heard that very same voice from a year ago. "You may now travel between worlds, you now have a second body. Time is no longer distorted, one minute passes here, one passes there. Congratulations, you have passed." said the voice.

"Wait, what?" asked Kenneth. "It's you... What do you mean?"

"Think only of that world, and you may go. Goodbye..." and the voice was just gone. 

"Hey! What do you mean?" Kenneth nearly shouted, luckily, his parents were still awake. 

Kenneth continued to write his story, until it was time to go to bed. As he climbed into bed, he thought of that world once again. He would try that voice's advice. Then he immediately felt tired, and before he knew it, fell asleep.

He woke up, and heard voices in downstairs. His parents were one to talk on the phone on weekend mornings, but those were not the sounds of his parents. When Kenneth went downstairs, he saw a couple androids down stairs. They all looked back, and the one with long hair looked up and a smile lit up at her face. She practically ran to him and gave him a hug, Kenneth hugged her back. 

"One week, never felt so long..." she said, "How?" asked she.

"I can now travel between, time is no longer distorted, and I guess I have two bodies. Where are Devola and Popola?" asked Kenneth.

"They'll be here later, but..." A2 looked back at the two androids who didn't have their visors on. 

"So you must be the human these two spoke so much about." said the one with a bob-cut.

"Yeah, it's nice to finally meet you, 2B." 

"Likewise, Kenneth, was it?" asked she.

"Correct." Kenneth looked over to the male. "And you... it's goo to finally meet the sane version of you."

"Sorry for uh... stabbing you..." he laughed sheepishly.

"Not a problem, Nines..."

And from that moment on, reconnected to his friends and being able to go whenever he pleased, it was more than what Kenneth could ever ask for. He didn't have to leave them behind permanently, and that was more than enough for him.

-End 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to make an Isekai kind of story again. But that won't be the case with my next story. As I said this may be my final Nier Automata story as I want to expand my horizons. In any case, I thank you taking the time out of your day to read this story of mine. I'll give you a hint of what franchise the story is going to be in. 
> 
> Fate 
> 
> See you there.
> 
> Trapped in Another World, September 14th 2019------->July 22nd 2020


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